


Against All Odds

by joannabanana91



Category: Pretty Little Liars
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Development, Eventual Romance, F/M, Forgiveness, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Male-Female Friendship, Moving On, Murder, Romance, Second Chances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-06-09 00:08:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 28
Words: 60,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6881239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joannabanana91/pseuds/joannabanana91
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story takes place after the season six finale. Gabe comes back and Hanna struggles with lingering feelings for Caleb. But maybe, just maybe, the person she's been looking for has been right in front of her all along...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> AUTHOR’S NOTE: To sum it up, this is basically my own (romantic) version of season seven. No more H&C, Gabe comes back, and S&C work out their issues (although that will be more of an off-screen thing since my main interest is just Gabe and Hanna).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR’S NOTE: To sum it up, this is basically my own (romantic) version of season seven. No more H&C, Gabe comes back, and S&C work out their issues (although that will be more of an off-screen thing since my main interest is just Gabe and Hanna).

**~*PRESENT DAY-EZRA'S COFFEE SHOP/BOOK STORE*~**

Hanna sat in the comfy chair of the coffee shop while she mused over the events of the last two months of her life. Coming back to Rosewood, seeing Caleb, seeing Caleb date Spencer, getting threats again, kissing Caleb in a moment of weakness, and... Gabe Holbrook coming back into her life.

She remembered the day like it was yesterday -- not to sound cliché of course, but it was true.

**~*TWO WEEKS AGO - THE NIGHT OF HANNA'S KIDNAPPING*~**

The lights were flashing all around her and for a moment she didn't know where she was.

_"I'm in an ambulance?"_

Hanna drifted off to sleep...

**~*HOSPITAL*~**

"You suffered quite a bit. We're just going to keep you here under observation for a little while until you get better, okay?" The nurse smiled warmly at Hanna, and Hanna smiled back at her confirming she understood everything.

Hanna looked up at the ceiling and lay for what felt like hours. She wasn't sure what she should be feeling in the moment. Anger? Relief? Worry? She had gone through this more times than she could count, and yet every new experience brought about an emotion she never knew she had.

Suddenly, the door opened and the person that came through it was the last person that Hanna ever expected to see.

"Hi, Hanna."

It was Gabe Holbrook.

"Um...I know I'm probably the last person you want to see right now, but I need to ask you a few questions. You know, about what you just went through."

Hanna was definitely feeling something. The awkwardness was stifling. When she didn't say anything Gabe moved a little closer, but he was still several feet away from her bed.

"Unless you'd rather have Tanner speak to you. I could call her over here if you wan-"

"No! Uh-No, it's fine. I-I can talk to you."

Gabe quickly smiled at her response and made his way over to the chair that was three feet from her bed.

For a few seconds, neither of them said anything. They couldn't even look at each other. Gabe took out his notebook and pen from his jacket pocket, but Hanna suspected he only did so out of anxiety; just something to stall the inevitable. He finally looked up and their eyes locked.

Hanna was struck by something she had not felt since high school, only this time it was different. It felt different somehow. Gabe stammered before he could get the first question out.

"Uh, so let's start this. I know you've been through a lot, but it's helpful for you and your friends if you try and tell me as much as you can. First things first. Can you describe the person that kidnapped you?"

Hanna didn't say anything. She narrowed her eyes at him in anger instead.

"Funny how you completely stop speaking to me for five years, and the only time you do is because of a stupid work assignment."

"Oh, Hanna," he said mockingly with an over-dramatic sigh.

She continued to glare.

"Don't tell me you actually wanted to see me again?"

He raised his eyebrows in amusement.

Hanna fake laughed.

"Please. That would require actual care and respect."

Gabe didn't reply to that, but an annoyed expression flashed across his face for a couple seconds.

"Look, it will make both of our lives easier if you just answer the questions. Now, once again... Can you describe the person that attacked you?"

Hanna stopped glaring at him and adopted a more neutral expression.

"Sure. It was a woman."

"A woman, okay."

Gabe wrote down the information on his notepad.

"I didn't see her face. She was wearing a mask the whole time."

Scribbles.

"A mask?"

"Yeah, it was one of those life-like ones like from a Halloween store."

More scribbles.

"They wore a Halloween mask? Seriously? What, do they think they're part of Scooby doo's mystery gang or something?"

Hanna laughed before she could stop herself, but then she stopped.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laughed."

Gabe put his pen down on the notepad.

"No, it's my fault. I'm the one who said it."

They locked eyes again and that strange yet familiar feeling flooded through Hanna once again. She cleared her throat.

"Well, what else have you got for me?"

**~*THE NEXT DAY*~**

The rest of the interview was fairly easy after they both decided to remain professional. No more jokes, no more snarky commentary, just a simple Q and A.

It was better that way.

Hanna felt the pangs of regret as he left and closed the door behind him, although she wasn't exactly sure why she felt that way. In the back of her head she knew that he and Tanner were going to take on this case, but seeing him walk away from her left her feeling empty.

She remembered the day of his suspension. The day of their fight. It was an event that she had pushed to the back of her mind, but seeing him again made it all come back.

Just when she thought she was going to cry over it, the door opened silently.

"Speak of the devil," Hanna said with a sly smile.

Gabe smiled back at her and made his way slowly over to her bed. He didn't sit down in the visitor's chair, but he did lower his voice to a friendlier tone.

"How are you?"

"Do you want the truth, or do you want me to say, 'I'm fine'?"

"Whatever's okay with you."

Hanna sighed. She honestly didn't know how she felt.

"To be honest...I have no idea what I'm feeling right now."

"Wow. An honest response. I didn't expect that."

"Why? I wasn't lying yesterday."  
"I know, I just meant...I didn't expect an honest answer from you to me."

"Why wouldn't I give you an honest answer?"

Gabe's face fell and he looked off to the side in shame.

Hanna understood. She nodded.

"Oh, right. Well, that's one way to wake up an elephant that's been sleeping for five years."

"Well technically that elephant would be dead if he was asleep that long."

Gabe smirked at her and Hanna copied him. She sat up straighter on the bed. The awkward silence filled the room again, and Gabe spoke again.

"So... Do you want to talk about 'it'?"

" _It_?"

"Yeah. You know the day I was suspended, how I was a complete jerk to you, how I deserved you telling me off, the fact that we haven't seen each other in five years..."

Hanna was taken aback by his bluntness. She had only just gotten used to being around him again, and now he wanted to bring _that_ up?

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Isn't there?"  
"No, there isn't. You already said everything."  
"But I haven't even apologized yet."  
"Well nothing's stopping you, so what are you waiting for?"

Now it was Gabe's turn to be surprised by her bluntness.

"I just thought -- never mind, it's stupid."

"What did you think?"

"It's nothing, really. It's just stupid."

"Really?"

"Trust me, it is."

"Try me."

Gabe didn't say anything for a minute, but then he swallowed his courage.

"I guess I just wanted you to be more upset over this. I was terrible to you Hanna, and we were friends for that brief period before you started going out with Travis. It was just naive and extremely arrogant of me to think you would still be upset after all this time."

Hanna sighed, and motioned for him to sit in the chair. When he did, she leaned slightly closer to him.

"Do you want to know a secret?"

Gabe nodded.

"I hated you for weeks. Of course no one could tell from the way I was behaving, I mean I had college plans and a stalker to keep me occupied, but for those next few weeks I hated you. I hated how you never came to visit me in jail. I hated that I never saw you after coming back from that creepy dollhouse from hell. But pretty soon all those feelings of hate disappeared and I just shoved you into the back of my mind. I tried to forget you and for a while it worked, but when I saw you again for the first time in years, it was like our fight had just happened last week again."

"I see."

The silence came into play once again, and for a while neither of them could think of what to say next.

Gabe opened his mouth to speak once more.

"How do you feel right now?"

"I don't know," she said as she leaned back against her pillow.

"I want to just keep on hating you but... there's a small part of me that just wants to forgive you no matter what. Five years is a long time to heal."

Gabe swallowed and registered her words. This was something that he had started and that alone was why he had to finish it.

"Hanna, I'm...I'm so sorry about everything that went down between us five years ago," the words spilled out before he could stop them.

"I shouldn't have followed you, I shouldn't have grabbed your arm, I shouldn't have tried to kiss you. I was a jerk, and I was wrong to accuse you of working with Alison. My suspension was my own damn fault, and you were right about Alison, about everything. You gave me the push I needed to realize that what happened was _my fault_ , not hers, or yours, but _mine_."

It was as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She smiled at him in relief, grateful for this tiny moment that she never expected would happen to her (not in a million years at least).

Maybe there was hope for them to rekindle their old friendship after all. Looking back on the events surrounding his suspension, Hanna realized she wasn't little-miss-innocent either. She leaned toward him again.

"I'm sorry too," she admitted.

Gabe was surprised by her sudden apology.

"What for? I'm the one who followed you, I'm the only one who should be apologizing right now."

"Yeah, but think about it. I'm just as guilty as you are. I should have asked you in person what you were really up to the day after the Ice Ball. I shouldn't have let the others' accusations of you get to me, but I did."

She smiled. Although it was more of a regretful and sad one than a happy one.

"Looks like we both could have been more honest with each other back then," she said softly.

"Yeah probably," he replied back.

Gabe smiled once more at Hanna, this time apologetically, informing her of just how much he truly regretted his past sins. Before she could stop herself, Hanna reached over and took his hand in hers. That strange, yet familiar feeling poured through her once again, but she didn't really mind it this time around.

"And...I don't need time to forgive you. I already do."

She smiled warmly at him, and he smiled back at her.

Yes, maybe there was hope for them after all.

**~*PRESENT DAY-EZRA'S COFFEE SHOP/BOOK STORE*~**

He thrust the cup of coffee into her hands without missing a beat, and sat down next to her.

"So, any luck?"

Hanna gave him a devil-eyed smirk after she asked him. Gabe looked at her with a mixture of skepticism and annoyance, but she secretly loved getting that reaction out of him. It gave her a thrill of some kind.

"Yes, as a matter of fact Tanner and I have made some great progress in the case. Turns out your stalker was just the maid the entire time."

Hanna rolled her eyes at him.

"Your fake answers were funnier the first time I asked you this," she said with slight disappointment.

"Yeah well," he took a sip of his own coffee, "the joke wasn't as old two weeks ago."

Hanna turned her face into one of disapproval while he pretended to ignore her. Then he turned to face her.

"So, how about you then? Got any new job offers yet?"

She put her cup on the table in front of them and placed her hands on her lap.

"I don't know. I mean I've gone to at least two job interviews in two weeks, and neither one of them has called me back yet."

"How's Jordan taking this?"

"Oh, well he's just being Jordan. You know, nice, loving, and supportive. But I don't need support, what I need right now is income."

"This is going to sound completely crazy but... Maybe you could go back to Claudia and beg for your job back."

"But it's been weeks since I walked out on her. Do you think she'd still take me back after being away for so long? No doubt she's already replaced me by now."

"Maybe she will? I don't know Hanna, I've only been in this kind of situation once in my life."

Hanna looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time all afternoon.

"That's right," she said with realization, "you were suspended from your job."

"That's right I was. It's not the same as quitting or getting fired, but it falls under the same principle. And it was at the start of _my_ career, kind of like what you're going through right now."

"So, what did you do? It couldn't have been easy getting your old job back."

"Hell, it was the hardest thing I ever had to experience, and I've been through a lot so that's saying something."

"So what should I do?"

Gabe looked at her as if he was seriously contemplating his answer.

"Well...first things first...What are your other options?"

Hanna had to think about this for a second.

"Oh! Well, there's this..." Hanna stopped herself and gave small chuckle.

"What?"

"It's nothing, it's silly."

"Oh come on, I deal with silly more than I'd like to admit on a daily basis. Whatever it is, you can tell me."

"Okay, well...a few days before I was kidnapped, my old friend Lucas made me an offer. He said he was going to help me open up my own fashion business."

"Wow, that's certainly not suspicious or anything. What does he do for a living exactly?"

"I’m not exactly sure… Something to do with video games I think.”

Gabe leaned back in his seat and smiled at her.

"What's that look for?" She was amused by the smile on his face.

"'Hanna Marin Fashions.' You got to admit, it does have a sort of catchy ring to it. Maybe I'll buy something from you one day."

"Ugh, not with a name like that. ’Marin' sounds so similar to the fish."

"Then what would you call it?"

"Hmm... Ooh! How about 'H and M Nation'?"

"’H and M Nation’?"

"Yeah! I mean it works doesn’t it? And we can naturally assume that Jordan will be there working alongside me. Hobart. Marin. See?"

Gabe nodded in understanding, but for a split second Hanna saw something in his eyes that she had never noticed until now.

Regret and jealously.

Suddenly, Olivia Newton John's "Let's Get Physical," could be heard in the background. It took Hanna a second to realize that the sound was coming from her phone. She took it out of her purse and checked the screen.

"Everything okay?"

Gabe was curious, but he was also concerned.

"Just another emergency girls' meeting. But I'll see you around, yeah?"

"Yeah of course."

Hanna smiled at him as she leaned over to take her coffee cup, and then she got up. The first few steps were awkward at first, but she eventually managed to make her way to the door and leave.

Gabe watched her walk away from him, an uneasy feeling creeping over him.

Hope is such a fickle little thing.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: So that's the first chapter! I already have a bunch of excerpts written out for future chapters, I just need to organize them and all that good stuff. I don't know if this story will ever be finished, but I will try my best. :D ADDITIONAL NOTE: The formatting here is a little different compared to FF, but I will get the hang of it eventually.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: Oh, wow. So sorry for the delay guys. I'm just so used to ff.net that I almost forgot I posted this here too.

**~*PRESENT DAY- SPENCER'S HOUSE*~**

Hanna met up with all the girls in Spencer's kitchen. She and Spencer hadn't talked much since she was found, but then again, Spencer never really seemed all that eager to. She never said anything, but deep down, Hanna knew that Spencer had somehow found out about her little kiss with Caleb. Emily told her that she and Caleb decided to take a break and that Spencer just wanted to focus on finding whoever this new 'A' was.

Spencer paced around the room while the rest of them sat on the couch.

"So it's been two weeks and the police still haven't found anything. Of course! Because why should five years make any difference?"

Aria was in the same boat as her.

"Yeah, I mean I almost got thrown in jail because I was with Ezra that night. And then Hanna gets kidnapped? Who's to say it won't happen to one of us next?"

"Well, whoever this 'A' is, they've been quiet for two weeks. Maybe that's a good thing?" Emily offered her optimism.

Suddenly a ring could be heard from Hanna's phone. She got it out of her bag and looked at the screen.

She had a new message.

**Like mother, like daughter.**

**Only this time, you actually _believed_ that the cop was good.**

**Watch me and you'll think otherwise.**

**:) :D :p *O*:U >;) :)) :D**

Hanna showed her message to Emily and Aria.

"Okay, can I just say that these emojis are really starting to get on my nerves?"

The other girls murmured their agreement with Aria's statement.

"What's that?" Spencer asked them as she made her way over to them.

"Hanna got a video message from annoying 'A'-moji'," Aria replied.

"Well? What are you waiting for, Han? Open it," Emily told her.

Hanna clicked on the video link tab, and a surveillance video popped up.

It was the church at night.

For a couple of seconds, nothing happened, but then a mysterious man made his way over to the church doors. He turned around and then quickly made his way inside.

"That was Holbrook!" Aria cried.

"What was he doing there that night?" Emily replied.

"Guys, check out the date," Spencer told them.

"That's the night 'A' kidnapped me," Hanna said quietly.

"In this case, Holbrook," Aria said with disgust.

"That might have been what he wanted. Get your guard down so he could worm his way back into your life again," Emily told Hanna.

"Well, _if_ that is true, he picked the wrong girl to mess with," Hanna replied back to her.

**~*PRESENT DAY-EZRA'S COFFEE SHOP/BOOK STORE*~**

He was still in the coffee shop, only this time he was reading a book. What that book was, Hanna didn't really care. Not right now.

She walked over to him, but she didn't say anything. Gabe didn't say anything either for a few seconds, but then he calmly collected himself.

"Yes?"

"It was you!"

"When?"

His attempts at being nonchalant were futile, and he knew this.

"You kidnapped me!"

He put down the book he was reading and got up to face her. Good thing she was wearing heels, or else he'd have to look down at her.

"Wow, one meeting with your friends and suddenly I'm the bad guy again. That's what you'd like to think huh?"

**~*THE NIGHT OF HANNA'S KIDNAPPING*~**

Gabe sat in his cop car across from the church, musing over his unfortunate circumstances as he popped the occasional caramel into his mouth.

_"How did I find myself back here again? That cop Lorenzo, or whoever he was, leaves and now I'm the first person they call to investigate Cec- Charlotte's murder? I never should have let Tanner talk me into coming back to this god-forsaken town..."_

As if by chance, Gabe turned his head and spotted a pair of legs disappearing into the door of the church. Or rather, a pair of legs being _dragged_ into a church.

_"Hello? What do we have here?"_

He opened the car door and made his way to the church, being extra careful not to make a sound as he maneuvered around the bushes.

He looked at the church door entrance. It was slightly ajar. He turned around to see if anyone was following him, but there was no one. So he quietly made his way inside.

Clang! Bang!

"Hello?!" He yelled in the empty church.

_"Damn it! Rookie mistake,"_ he thought.

There was no time to scold himself, so he did the first thing that came to his mind.

He ran toward the direction of the sound.

Up the stairs he went until he found the source of the sound.

He was shocked.

Someone was dragging Hanna Marin’s body through the floors of the church attic.

"Hanna?! What are you doing with her?!"

The instinct came over him before he could stop himself.

He pulled out his gun.

He couldn't see the person's face since they had on a mask, but he could tell that the sight of the gun spooked whoever it was. The mystery person hovered for a moment or two, and then they ran off, leaving Hanna to crumble on to the floor.

Gabe decided against running after the perp, and crouched over Hanna. She had blood near her mouth, and looked pretty worn out. He put his fingers to her neck, checking for a pulse.

There was.

_"Five years..."_ he thought with a heavy heart.

He sighed, and took out his cellphone from his jacket pocket.

"Hi, this is detective Holbrook. I need an ambulance at..."

**~*PRESENT DAY-EZRA'S COFFEE SHOP/BOOK STORE*~**

"And you never told me this because...?"

"I couldn't think of the right time to tell you. I'm sorry."

"Okay, but that doesn't explain how the doctors and nurses never told me this."

"I told them to keep the identity of your rescuer anonymous. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it."

"’Rescuer’ huh? That's a little bold, even for you," Hanna said quietly.

"Yeah well," Gabe shrugged half-heartedly like it was no big deal.

Hanna looked like she was going to slap him for a second, but then she did something surprising.

She hugged him.

"Not that I'm complaining, but I don't think this is a good idea," Gabe said confused.

They were still embracing.

"Why not? If you're telling the truth then you deserve this. I could have died that night."

"Yeah, but remember what happened the last time you hugged me?"

They pulled away from each other. Hanna grinned at him.

"Right. That 'spur-of-the-moment' kiss. Well that was over five years ago, and I've learned a lot since then. You're just not my type Gabe, sorry."

"Ouch!" He pretended to look offended. "And here I thought we were friends again."

Hanna laughed.

"Well I suppose you could be my type in some sort of alternate universe without Jordan in it."

"Or Caleb."

She stopped laughing.

Nothing like an awkward silence to fill up response time.

Suddenly, Hanna didn't want to stay there anymore. She didn't want to talk about this with anyone, least of all him.

"Hey, you know what? I should probably get back to the girls. You know, now that we've crossed you off the suspect list... _Again_ ," she finished with a small laugh.

She started to leave, but then Gabe stopped her by gently grabbing her arm.

"Hey...If you guys actually have anyone worthy of suspicion, be sure to tell us."

Hanna looked at him with her lips pursed.

"Look, I know the cops aren't your favorite kind of people, but I actually do want to help you find this person. And the only way to do that is if you guys stop keeping secrets from us."

Deep down, Hanna knew he was right.

"Okay, fine. But I'm only talking to _you_."

He let go of her arm.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHORS' NOTE: Kind of a weird place to cut it off, but I'm in a hurry to get through these already-written-out chapters, ha ha ha. I just want to get to the good sickenly-adorable bits because I miss this ship so much, and writing this is very cathartic for me (and yes some of these author's notes are copied from the original version on ff.net)


	3. Chapter 3

**~*TWO DAYS LATER-THE RADLEY*~**

He was leaning against the main bar with a drink in his hands. They hadn't been alone since _that_ night...

"Hey, do you have a second to talk?"

"Sure," Caleb told Hanna.

They walked over to a couch and sat down.

"So, I heard you and Spencer broke up."

"Yeah. Yeah, we did."

"Why did you?"

Hanna looked at him expectantly.

"Uh, I just felt bad about what happened between us that night. I thought it was best if we had some space. She agreed."

Hanna looked disappointed, but Caleb seemed unfazed by it.

"Oh. Does she know that we...You know...Kissed?"

"Yeah, she does. I couldn't lie to her about it. She deserved better than that," he told her.

Hanna smiled at Caleb.

_"Even now, he's still as good as ever. How could I ever love anyone else besides him?"_

They stared at one another for what felt like hours, the urge to kiss him coming over her once again. For a second Hanna thought they would, but then Caleb cleared his throat.

"So, look...I think we shou-" he stopped.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Holbrook is here. He's watching us."

"What?”

Hanna turned around and spotted Gabe sitting at a table.

“Ugh, I'll be right back," Hanna said as she got up.

She walked over to Gabe who pretended not to notice that she was there.

"Having some undercover fun, or whatever it is you cops do these days?"

He turned his head to smile up at her.

"Trust me, the life of a cop is not as exciting as it looks on TV."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Were you spying on me?"

"Well, not intentionally. I literally just noticed you were here ten seconds ago, and I was just curious. Caleb just caught me looking at a bad time. Good thing too," he finished with a chuckle as he put a cup of coffee to his lips.

Hanna crossed her arms.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He stopped himself from enjoying his coffee.

"You still love him," he replied casually.

"Excuse me?!" Hanna whispered harshly.

"It's kind of obvious. Your face pretty much said it all."

"Yeah, well," Hanna was starting to feel uncomfortable, "You don’t know what you’re talking about."

She turned around and walked back over to Caleb who was still sitting on the couch.

"So what did he want?"

"Huh?"

"Holbrook? Why was he looking at us?"

"Oh! He just...wanted to talk to me about the investigation," she said as she sat down on the couch again.

"Right. Well, before when I was talking, there was something I needed to tell you."

"What?"

"I think we should just be friends."

"We are friends remember?" She said with a wink.

"No," Caleb laughed, "I mean...just friends."

"Oh," she said disappointed.

"Look, it's not that I don't care about you Hanna, but...we need to figure out we want for ourselves while we're still single. I don't want to ruin what you have with Jordan."

She sighed and looked at him.

"You know what? You're absolutely right."

**~*NIGHTTIME THREE HOURS LATER-LUCAS'S APARTMENT*~**

_“I can’t believe I’m about to do this. But I have to do this. I don’t want to break his heart but…ugh. I hate this.”_

Hanna’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door unlocking. She got up from the couch and quickly walked over to the door. It opened just in time.

"Hanna!"

Jordan threw his arms around her in a protective embrace as he walked through the door.

But something was wrong.

He let go of her and noticed the sad expression on her face. She looked like she was going to cry.

"Hanna...What is it?"

Hanna looked around the room as if she wasn't sure where to start.

"Um...I think you should sit down, Jordan."

He nodded and they sat down at the table.

"Listen...” she started slowly, “I care about you so much. You deserve the best in life, but..."

"It's not you," he finished for her.

Hanna nodded grimly.

"I'm so sorry Jordan, but…I-I can't marry you. I rushed into this marriage because...I broke up with Caleb shortly before we met, and I was just using you to get over him."

"Oh."

Hanna tried to fight back the tears, but they spilled out.

"I really am sorry, Jordan. I really am. I made your parents waste all that money on a wedding that was never gonn-"

"It's fine."

"It's not!"

"No, it really is. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little upset, but I'm glad you told me. It's better than being left at the altar on the day of our wedding."

Hanna chuckled at his small joke. Jordan slowly got up and headed to the stairs.

Hanna knew what he was doing.

He was packing.

**~*NIGHTTIME TEN MINUTES LATER-LUCAS'S APARTMENT*~**

He was at the door with his suitcase.

"So..." Hanna walked slowly over to him.

"So..." Jordan replied back.

"I guess this is it."

"Yeah...I guess so."

Hanna stood on her tiptoes and hugged him tightly.

"I don't know how many times I can say I'm sorry but-"

He released her.

"Then, don't."

She smiled at him, but she felt like crying once more.

"Oh, god look at me. I'm gonna cry again."

He gently caressed her face.

"Good bye, Hanna."

"Good bye, Jordan."

He took his hand away, and picked up the suit case. He opened the door, and then he turned around.

"I'll send you your things by mail once I get back."

"Oh, that's nice of you. Thank you."

Jordan looked at her tenderly; he knew that they would never see each other again after this.

"I hope you find what you're looking for, Hanna."

Hanna grinned at him.

"I hope the same for you."

He smiled warmly at her as he left, closing the door behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR’S NOTE: I'm not an expert on the fashion industry, or how the job process for it works. I should probably research it, but I'm not going to. Hey, at least I'm admitting it, ha ha ha.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**~*ONE WEEK LATER-MORNING IN LUCAS'S APARTMENT*~**

Hanna was on the phone with Mary, a woman who worked for one of the companies she had gone to interview for a few weeks earlier.

"Alright, Ms. Marin, you are in luck. Someone in our department is very interested in you becoming their assistant. Miss Sally Hollins."

"Really?"

"Well, her last assistant had to quit due to personal issues, but you were the next person on her list, so."

"Oh, well that's still great! When do I start?"

"Two days. I hope you're ready."

"Oh, I am. Thank you! Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, hon. Oh, and one more thing. There's this fashion show we're having in Rosewood next month, which is perfect because you're still living there at the moment, yes?"

"Yes."

"Go to it. You didn't hear this from me, but a little birdy told me you don’t want to miss it. Plus, the host always throws one hell of a party, so there's that too."

Hanna laughed.

"Oh, well. Guess I'd better start getting ready now. But look, thank you so much for this."

"Sure. Bye."

"Bye."

Hanna hung up the phone grinning from ear to ear.

Things were definitely looking up.

Well...career wise at least.

As far as her love life?

Well, that remains to be seen.

**~*ONE HOUR LATER-THE MARIN HOUSEHOLD*~**

Emily was sitting at the table in the kitchen while Hanna dug through the sink for a clean spoon.

"So, you're an assistant again?" Emily asked Hanna.

"Yeah,” she answered.

A spoon! Finally.

"Ha ha! Found you,” She said triumphantly.

"I'm sorry."

Hanna waved her spoon-free hand.

"It's fine.”

She walked over to the fridge.

"Really? I thought you'd be more upset over it since you just wasted two years of your life."

"You know it's weird," Hanna opened the refrigerator and took a yogurt out of it.

"I actually was upset the day that Claudia let me go and I walked out of there like some dumb-ass fashionista, but...I don't know, Em. So much has changed since then."

She closed the refrigerator, opened the yogurt and dug her spoon into it.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked her before she could put the dairy-product into her mouth.

"I just mean...I was kidnapped...I broke up with a man I thought I was gonna marry...I don't know, I just feel like on the list of priorities, a career in fashion just feels like number three."

"You're not gonna quit now are you?"

"Hell no! Are you kidding me? There's no way I'm backing down from this career now. And I actually do love working in fashion."

"Well, how are you these days? You know since..."

_Since you broke off your engagement with Jordan._

Hanna could read between the lines.

"I'm fine, really. Plus, it was wrong of me to lead Jordan on like that. He didn’t deserve that. And, you know Caleb's right...We both need to be single in order for us to figure out what we want."

"And what do you want?"

"I think I want Caleb."

"You think?"

Hanna put a scoop into her mouth.

"At this point, thinking is all I've got these days."

**~*FOUR HOURS LATER-THE RADLEY*~**

Hanna and Gabe were sitting at a table outside waiting for their order. Fortunately, they had an appetizer-sized plate of chips in front of them.

"What is this? Sea salt?"

"Um, I think that's paprika actually."

"Oh. Well that's disgusting. I have a bad memory involving paprika that I prefer not to get into."

Gabe moved the plate away from him.

"So, what did you want to meet me here for?" He asked her.

"What? Can't friends hang out in restaurants together without it turning into something?"

Gabe chuckled at her answer.

"Anyone else, sure. But when it comes to you and your friends I'm always a little suspicious of you four. Including you. No offense."

" _Offense taken_...Wait," Hanna crossed her arms on the table and leaned closer to him, "Are we really that suspicious to you guys?"

"Yeah.”

Apparently this was obvious to _just_ _about everyone_ except them.

“What do you think? You guys are always keeping secrets from everyone, and you always seem to be stuck in the middle of murder investigations."

"Huh. That's...huh," she said with a dumbfounded expression.

Hanna shook off the expression and took her arms away from the table.

"Guess I never really gave that much thought about how we’d look to the outside world."

She took a few chips from the plate and munched on them.

Gabe crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

"So...What exactly am I doing here?"

"Oh," Hanna swallowed her mouth full of chips, "Right."

"Well, I invited you here because I needed some advice."

"Advice on what?"

"Well, I broke off my engagement with Jordan a week ago and-"

Gabe sat up straighter in his seat.

"Hold on a second...You broke off your engagement with Jordan?"

"Yes. I couldn't keep lying to him, and I think he deserved better than me stringing him along until the wedding in May."

"Is this because of Caleb? You _are_ still in love with him! Well, it didn't take a genius to figure that out."

"Yes, you turned out to be right, whoo-hoo. You'll get a damn parade later," she said sarcastically.

He smiled at her joke.

"I don't understand your need for my advice though."

"Well I just need to ask you one thi-"

A server interrupted her as he put down their food in front of them. They both thanked him, and then he left. Gabe stole a roll off of Hanna's plate and started buttering it with a knife.

"Anyway, I need to ask you one thing. It's about Caleb."

He stopped what he was doing.

"Okay."

He put the knife down on the table, the roll still in his hand.

"I am officially freaked out, but I'll listen."

She rolled her eyes, but kept her composure.

"How do I get Caleb back?" She asked him bluntly.

"Wait, what? I'm sorry, but _what?_ "

He looked at her as if she had grown three heads right there in front of him.

" _God, please don't make me say it again._ Look, I know it's weird, but I needed to ask someone...honest. And someone who's been out of the loop for five years."

He firmly shook his head.

"Listen, Han...I can't give you advice on this."

"Why not?"

"You're not gonna like what I have to say, and since you want honesty, well..."

" _Honesty is good!_ It's why I'm asking you."

He let the roll fall down onto his plate and sighed heavily.

"Alright...Here goes nothing...You are still in love with your high school boyfriend. You probably never stopped loving him, even after you met Jordan."

"Yeah, I already know this part. So what should I do to get him back?"

Gabe hesitated.

"I-I I...I just think that you should move on from this 'first love' fantasy that you have."

"It's not a crime to still be in love with your first love," she said dreamily.

"Of course," he said as he looked into her eyes.

Hanna smiled and put her head down.

"Unless..."

She looked up.

"You're planning on ruining his relationship with his ex-girlfriend more than you already have. Oh, and your supposed 'best friend' too I should add," he finished with a slight chuckle.

"Is that supposed to be funny? Because it's not."

"I'm just being honest. You really think that because you two shared a 'moment' on the night of your kidnapping he's just going to choose you all over again?"

"Caleb and I were one of the only things that ever made sense in my life. And I'm pretty sure he still feels the same."

"Right. You're 'sure'," he air quoted her with his fingers.

He leaned back in his seat again, a curious expression coming over him.

"Have you even talked to Spencer about this?"

"She...doesn't want to talk."

Hanna took a sip of her water.

"Right. So it doesn't even matter that you guys broke up years ago and that your friend was happy with him. Your happiness is the only thing that matters right? Damn Spencer to Hell I guess."

Hanna opened her mouth in shock at what he just said.

"Caleb and I...we still love each other! Our moment was good because it was something...romantic."

"Oh yeah. Cheating is just so romantic," Gabe said sarcastically.

"Oh no. Don't you _dare_ give me grief about this. You of all people have no right."

"Why not? You rightfully told me off when I was suspended. Am I not allowed to do the same to you for some reason?"

"Are you saying I shouldn't get back together with Caleb?"

"By all means, do what you want. _It's your life_. But as your friend, it's my job to be honest. And honestly, I can't see this going anywhere good. Someone's gonna end up getting hurt because of this."

Hanna was starting to get annoyed with Gabe's "honesty."

" _You're wrong_. I'm not engaged to Jordan anymore, so all that needs to happen now is for Caleb to realize he wants to be with me again and not Spencer."

" _Wow_ ," Gabe chuckled at her last few words. "I'm not even going to comment on that sentence, but good luck with that."

Hanna didn't respond to his remark.

"Eat your rolls," she told him bitterly.

They finished their meal in silence.

**~*ONE HOUR LATER-GABE’S APARTMENT IN ROSEWOOD*~**

“I swear there are more books than furniture in this place,” Hanna said amused.

“Hey, I gotta have something to keep me occupied when I work.”

Gabe walked over to his couch, and sunk into the seat. Hanna stood in the middle of the floor with her hands on her hips.

A minute passed before Gabe spoke again.

“So…Are we done talking about the whole Caleb situation? You were awfully quiet on the drive over here.”

“I…I don’t know,” she crossed her arms.

“Well, just say the word and I’ll stop talking about it.”

Hanna walked closer to him.

“Not yet. I want to know why you think Caleb and I won’t work out our problems. Why you think the whole ‘first loves’ idea is ridiculous, because you clearly do.”

“Look…You told Spencer that it was okay for her to date Caleb. She waited two years to start dating him out of respect, for _you_ , her _friend_ , and now all of a sudden when someone else wants him, you want him back all over again even though you-“

“God, not this again.”

She turned her head away from him in disgust.

“I’m only telling you the truth,” he rose from the seat, “You told me that’s what you wanted.”

“Yes! I wanted the truth from _you_ , my _friend_. Keyword, _friend_!”

“What am I supposed to do? You want the truth? Well here it is: You and Caleb getting back together is nothing but a selfish act. It’s not _true love_.”

“As if _you_ know anything about the concept of ‘true love,’” she said, copying his finger quotes from earlier.

“I know cheating isn’t romantic.”

“So what do you want me to do, huh? Just give up on Caleb completely?”

Hanna could see that he was starting to get angry.

“Hey, I already told you. Do what you want. If you want to ruin your friend’s life because of your own refusal to let go and your own selfish needs… _be my guest_ ,” he said coldly.

Hanna put on a cruel smile.

“ _Of course_. Because I should just be like you, right? Throw a fit when I get into trouble and pretend like I did nothing wrong by blaming others for my mistakes instead!”

“Are you seriously using my past mistakes to justify your argument? Are you kidding me? And you’re one to talk about having anger issues, I mean you’re practically yelling at me right now.”

“YES, BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT MAKING ANY SENSE!”

“GOOD GOD, HANNA! HOW MANY TIMES DO I…”

He breathed in and out a couple of times to calm himself down.

“Listen… _You had your shot with Caleb_. He left you. He got fed up with your work schedule, and you both moved on to other people. At this point, if you pursue him, there’s a very strong chance your friendship with Spencer will be ruined forever, and you’ll both end up getting hurt in the end.”

Hanna didn’t say anything. Instead, she left, slamming the door behind her as she did so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: I’ve got this little head!canon telling me that if Gabe and Hanna ever got the chance to talk again, they would be brutally honest with each other. Even if it makes the other person uncomfortable. Just a little something I thought of after Hanna yelled at him in 5x18. Just another reason why this ship had the potential to be awesome and why the writers made an enormous mistake.


	5. Chapter 5

**~*TWO HOURS LATER*~**

Hanna walked around the streets of Rosewood. Nighttime would be there soon, but she didn't really care. She was too angry with Gabe to care about anything.

_"I can't believe him! What the hell does he know about me and Caleb? We've always found a way to work out our problems. So what if Caleb and I met in high school? Plenty of happily married couples met when they were still in high school. But I'm gonna prove him wrong..."_

She took out her cellphone and looked at the contact screen. She pushed the button.

"Hanna? Why are you calling me? How'd you even get this numb-"

"Hi, Toby."

"What do you want?"

Hanna smiled.

"I need some information."

**~*HALF AN HOUR LATER*~**

Knock Knock!

Caleb opened the door to find a somewhat disheveled Hanna.

"Hey...Are you alright?"

"I...am...great," she said emphasizing every word.

"Okay...So what are you doing here? How did you even know I was living here?"

"I asked around. More specifically, I asked Toby, who told me, and well..."

He smiled awkwardly at her.

"Well, is there anything I can do for you? Did 'A-moji' finally come out again?"

"Not yet. Which is a good thing because I'd really hate it if they killed one of us before I had the chance to do this."

She grabbed his face with her hands and pressed a kiss onto his lips.

"Wait!"

He gently pushed her away.

"I can't do this, Hanna."

"Why not? You made your feelings perfectly clear the night we tried to take down 'A' remember?"

He used his hand to wipe away the kiss from his lips. Something he'd never done in the entire time they were together...

"Looking back on that night, I really think that kiss was just a mistake."

Hanna's face fell. Caleb stood for a minute or two deciding what he was going to say next.

"Uh...Why don't we sit down?"

She followed him to a couple of seats inside, and they sat down.

"There's something I haven’t told you,” he said nervously. "On the night you were kidnapped, 'A' taunted all of us. And I was so desperate to find you alive that I teamed up with Mona of all people, just so I could find you."

"Yeah, I know. Mona told me after I got out of the hospital."

The clock on the wall filled up the silence of their surroundings.

"But what she didn't tell you is how disappointed I was after you were found. All those hours driving around the Lost Woods Resort, imagining the worst, and then in a strange twist you end up being saved by some anonymous stranger."

Hanna swallowed. She hadn't told anyone that Gabe saved her, but he wasn't exactly her favorite person at the moment, so there was really no need to say anything.

"Not that I wasn't grateful for your safety, but I was so hyped up on adrenaline that night that I wasn't thinking straight. That whole time thinking you chose your work over me, only to find out you came back...I got caught up in the moment."

The tick of the clock on the wall seemed to grow louder.

_"Was that clock always so loud?"_ She thought.

"What are you saying Caleb?”

"I'm so sorry, Hanna. We had our chance, but...kissing you that night was a mistake. I've had some time to fully think about things and...The past can't be changed. I left, and you moved on. _We both moved on_."

He swallowed before saying the next sentence.

"And I realized...I am in love with Spencer."

That last sentence hit her like a Tsunami.

"You love her, huh?"

She tried to fight back the tears.

"It took me a while to realize it, but yes I do. When we were talking at The Radley a week ago, there was a moment when I stared into your eyes. Three years ago, I would have gladly kissed you. But now...that urge is gone."

She let a tear drop from her eye.

"I see. So you don't want to kiss me anymore?"

He could see that she was close to having an emotional break-down.

"Hanna…You are very important to me. You were the first love of my life, but..."

Tears. This time from him, not her.

"We can't go back to the way we used to be," he said with his voice cracked. "I'm so sorry, the last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you but-"

Hanna got up abruptly before he could finish.

"Yeah! I get it. You're not in love with me anymore. You love Spencer."

"Hanna look-"

"No, I get it. Trust me I do."

She walked to the door and opened it, but before leaving, she turned around to look at Caleb.

"Feel free to tell Spencer what just happened. You'll need that honesty if you want an actual shot at getting her back again."

She left.

**~*THE NEXT MORNING*~**

He was sitting on the bench in front of the church. She power-walked over to him.

"You were right! _Okay?!_ You were right about everything. Start preparing your 'I-told-you-so' speech!"

Gabe kept his mouth shut.

"Caleb, he loves..." Hanna took a breath, "He really does love Spencer now."

She fell into the seat next to him and let the tears fall silently. Gabe had yet to say a word.

"God, how could I have been so stupid?" She scolded herself.

"You just made a mistake. It happens to everyone," he told her gently.

"Gabe...I broke off my engagement with one of the nicest guys I've ever met because I was dumb enough to believe that Caleb and I could go back to the way we were. God... _Why didn't I listen to you? I should have listened to you!_ I'm such an idiot."

She put her face in her hands.

"Look, I might have been a little too harsh on you yesterday. But it's going to be alright."

She lifted her face from her hands.

"No! No, it's not going to be alright. I had something good and I messed it up."

Gabe stared at his own hands, trying to figure out what to say next.

"Did you love him? Jordan?"

"I don't know," she sniffled. "I mean I did care about him, but I only jumped into an engagement with him because I was trying to force myself to move on from Caleb. I don't think I could ever see myself being married to him. Or anyone else for that matter."

Gabe looked up from his hands and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Oh come on. Don't be like that."

"Like what? A pathetic and sobbing mess?"

"Listen," he carefully took her hands in his, "You will get through this."

Hanna shook her head in disbelief.

" _Yes, you will_. You will find someone else to love, and when you find him, your feelings for Caleb will just be a distant memory. You just have to be open to it."

The awkward tension was close to making a comeback; he let go of her hands.

"So listen, Tanner wants me to do some work on the Charlotte Dilaurentis case, but I can stay here with you if you want."

Hanna looked at him sadly.

"No. No, you can go. I just need to be alone for a couple of days. Or a couple hundred maybe."

**~*THREE DAYS LATER-THE MARIN HOUSEHOLD*~**

Hanna lay in her old bedroom, looking up at the ceiling. She had just gotten back from her new job; a job she was grateful for because of the distraction it gave her from all of her...problems.

But on the other hand, it also made her realize how stupid she'd been acting since she came back to Rosewood.

_"Why did I think messing up my friendship with Spencer was a good idea? Grabbing Caleb's hand in front of her like that? Hoping he'll leave her for me instead? Thinking of cheating as something romantic? Damn it. I'm not in high school anymore, and it's time I started acting like it."_

She reached over and grabbed her cellphone from the nightstand.

**CONTACT LIST:**

**SPENCER HASTINGS**

She stared at the name until the letters stopped making sense. She put the phone to her mouth and closed her eyes.

"Just one call, Hanna," she told herself out loud.

With her eyes open she pushed the button.

Five seconds passed...then ten seconds...

_"Please pick up, Spence. Please,"_ she thought sadly.

"Hanna?"

She didn't sound too annoyed. Thank God.

"Spence!"

"What do you want?"

"I...I think we need to talk. Not on the phone. Can you meet me at my mom's house?"

Silence. Did she hang up? Hanna started to assume the worst when-

"Okay. I'll be there in an hour."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR’S NOTE: Ooh! What’s going to happen next? Caleb also lives in that place he crashed in after coming back from Ravenswood. I know I never said it, but it’s because I didn’t want him living in Spencer’s barn or in the Marin household. So I just settled for ambiguous. Ha ha.


	6. Chapter 6

**~*ONE HOUR LATER-THE MARIN HOUSEHOLD*~**

Hanna was sitting at the table in her mom's kitchen.

She checked her cellphone.

**8:07 PM**

_"Where is she? I hope she didn't back down from coming over,"_ she thought to herself.

Suddenly, a knock could be heard from behind her.

Hanna turned around and saw Spencer behind the glass door.

For a flash of a second, Hanna went through a strange sense of Déjà Vu.

She dismissed the feeling and got up to open the door.

Spencer walked past her without saying a word.

"Um...I'm glad you decided to come, Spence," Hanna said closing the door. "Honestly, I wasn't sure you would make it."

"Well...here I am," Spencer replied.

Her tone was neutral; neither angry nor sad. Which somehow made Hanna feel ten times worse than she already did.

But she fought through it.

"I understand that you're upset with me," Hanna started slowly, "but I want you to just hear me out."

Spencer nodded once to confirm she understood.

"I was wrong."

Spencer's eyes widened in shock. She clearly was not expecting _that_ to happen when she came over.

"Wait, what?" She asked quietly.

" _I was wrong_. I was wrong to grab Caleb's hand in front of you like that. I was wrong to kiss him the night I was kidnapped. I should have just been honest with you, Spence. I was in the wrong all along, not you. You did everything right. I was just being selfish because I wasn't over Caleb and the thought of seeing him with someone else...It annoyed me, and I should have just been upfront with you about it. All those things that I did...not very mature of me."

Spencer was speechless. When she didn't say anything else, Hanna resumed talking.

"And a few days ago, I kissed him, or I tried to kiss him thinking I could get him back again. He rejected me. At first I was upset, but then I realized something. I realized that I hadn’t been a very good friend to you. And that's something that I _never_ wanted to happen. So I guess what I'm trying to say is...I'm sorry, Spence. I really am, and...I hope...I hope someday you'll be able to forgive me."

Spencer walked a few feet away from her as though she were deciding what the right reaction was, and then she finally spoke, her back to Hanna.

"I was so upset when I found out what happened between you and Caleb. I even blamed myself, can you believe it?" She added with a light chuckle. "I blamed myself for falling in love with him. I told myself, 'God, Spence there you go again...falling for guys you shouldn't be with.' And then I was angry at both of you for about two seconds, and then I decided it wasn't worth it. I decided that finding 'A' was all I had left to do in this town, and that as soon as they were found, I would head back to Washington without a second thought."

Spencer walked back over to Hanna who had not moved since she left.

"You were right, you know? _You should have been honest with me before I started dating Caleb_ but...we never should have let a guy, of all things, come between us either."

Hanna started smiling tearfully.

"Look, I'm not saying we'll be able to go back to the way we used to be but...your friendship is still important to me, Han. And as badly as you screwed up, how could I not forgive you?"

Spencer smiled at Hanna genuinely for the first time in forever, and she wrapped her arms around the short blonde.

"Wow. An apology gets me a hug? Guys better watch out," Hanna said amused.

Spencer let go of her and smirked at her.

"Caleb loves you, you know?" Hanna told her softly.

"He told you?"

Tonight was full of surprises for Spencer.

"Yeah. It was actually the reason why he rejected me."

Spencer looked as if she wanted to smile, but she suppressed it and cleared her throat.

"Well, Caleb and I are on a break right now, so it doesn't even matter anymore," she said casually.

"Of course it does! If you love him then you should fight for him. Don't let him walk away from you."

Spencer didn't reply to that, but Hanna could tell that the thought of dating Caleb again was not far off from the brunette’s mind.

"So...who were those guys specifically?" Hanna asked her slightly changing the subject. "The ones you never should have fallen for?"

"Oh, you know. Ian...Wren. Just to name a few."

"Okay, but Ian was Melissa's husband and Wren was engaged to her. Plus, they were both way older than us when we were in high school. If anything, they should have respected that instead of taking advantage of an impressionable teenage girl."

"Wow!" Spencer said surprised. "Where did you pick that up?"

"I started watching a lot of talk shows over the years. That, and I finally got some common sense."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR’S NOTE: Wow, over 10,000 words now. And they said writing essays in college would be hard, ha ha.

**~*TWO DAYS LATER – 8 AM IN EZRA'S COFFEE SHOP/BOOKSTORE*~**

"Gabe!"

He looked up to find a frantic Hanna scurrying over to him as if she had just come back from running a marathon. She held up the image of a rather...disastrous outfit on her phone.

"What do you think about thi-"

"The colors don't match," he said quickly. He looked down at the book in his lap and resumed reading it.

Hanna breathed out in disbelief.

"That's not what I was gonna say."

He looked up and smirked at her.

"The colors still don't match."

"I'm sorry, which one of us has the career in fashion here? You or me?"

He put the book beside him.

"Look, all I'm saying is that the colors don't match. I think black would go so much better with that skirt."

"Well of course it would! Black goes with everything! And since when are you such a fashion expert?"

"I'm not, but that doesn't mean I don't know a thing or two about putting a decent outfit together."

**~*FLASHBACK SIX YEARS AGO - ROSEWOOD HIGH HALLWAY*~**

Hanna didn't want to hear Aria's taunts anymore. _"Every cop has a first name, right? So why should Gabe be any different?"_ She thought as they walked to Aria's locker.

"Is he into fashion or something?" Aria asked her half-serious, half-amused.

"No, Aria," Hanna answered her, annoyed.

**~*END OF FLASHBACK*~**

"You think you know someone," Hanna moved two steps closer, "and then they surprise you."

"God, I hope so. Otherwise everyone would get boring, _fast_ ," he replied sarcastically.

Hanna laughed and sat down next to him.

"So what's that you're reading?"

"The book that creeped you out years ago," he said grabbing the book that was now wedged between them. " _The Land of Blood and Ice_. I just felt like re-reading it."

Hanna reached out her hand to take it and he put it in her hands.

"Wow. I can't believe you still have this," she said as she turned it over, examining it.  
"I know most people use e-books now, but I've had this copy for a while. It's a nice story to carry around."  
"What, people screaming for their lives while a killer is on the loose?"

"Well, I just meant it's nice to have a hard copy and not something electronic. Anyway...How are you feeling these days?"

Hanna titled her head toward him. She knew exactly what he was referring to.

"Spencer and I are fine. I'm still a little sore over Caleb, but I think I just need to stay clear of guys for a while."

Gabe looked at her confused.

"Oh! Don't look at me like that," Hanna said annoyed. "You know what I mean."

She handed him back his book.

"I also wanted to say something else...I'm sorry for taking my anger out on you. You were just being honest and I didn't want to listen to you."

He smiled softly.

"I'm sorry too. I know you asked for honesty, but I shouldn't have lost my patience like that."

She didn't reply to that. Instead she put her hand on her face as if she were slowly face-palming herself.

"We both lost our tempers, Gabe. Let's not sugarcoat it," she said through her hand, muffled.

He turned toward her. "You're right. But despite that...I actually kind of liked the honesty. Lies just make everything so much more complicated, you know?"

Hanna removed her hand from her face and looked at him.

"Trust me. I know what you mean."

**~*TWO HOURS LATER - LUCAS'S APARTMENT*~**

"It feels so strange to still be here," Hanna said as she walked down the stairs - she had just returned from the bathroom.

"Why do you say that?" Spencer asked her from the table as she stirred her coffee with a spoon.

"We haven't gotten any 'A-moji' messages since I came back from that night. Well...At least not since 'A' tried to throw Holbrook under the bus," Hanna replied as she got off the last step.

"Why are we even still here? I know they haven't found Charlotte's killer, but surely they don't need us here anymore, right?" Aria asked from the couch.

"Well we can't just get up and leave. Ali's in that hospital and Hanna’s kidnapper is still on the loose remember?" Emily said, a worried expression on her face. She was sitting next to Aria.

"We know Em. But she's safe. Isn't that what matters most here? Maybe in a strange and lucky twist, 'A' decided to run for the hills and stay there," Hanna said with her arms crossed.

"Or 'A' is still waiting to unleash Sara Harvey on us so she can continue her reign of terror," Spencer said before she took a sip of her coffee.

"Hmm. 'The devil's agents may be of flesh and blood, may they not?'" Hanna replied.

The girls whipped their heads toward her, surprised.

"What? It's from the guy who wrote those Sherlock Holmes books."

They continued to stare at her. Hanna sighed heavily.

"Holbrook told me. God, I can't believe I remembered that."

The other girls looked at each other awkwardly.

"What?"

Hanna was clueless.

"You've been spending an awful lot of time with him lately," Emily said.

Hanna looked from girl to girl.

"What? No! No. Gabe and I...we're just friends."

"As far as we know, you're the only one who actually calls him by his first name. That's pretty intimate for two people that just reunited after five years apart," Spencer told her smiling.

"Wha-?" Hanna opened and closed her mouth and stammered before speaking again.

"Well...Tanner calls him 'Gabriel.' So I'm not the only one who calls him by his first name."

"Yeah, but you gave him a nickname," Aria said coyly.

Hanna brushed off their implications.

"Can we just get back to 'A' please?"

"What 'A'? They've been quiet for a while now," Aria told her.

Knock Knock!

The girls jumped.

"I may have spoken too soon," Aria said as she got up from the couch. Spencer didn't waste any time and went straight for the door. She waited a couple of seconds to allow the deliverer time to leave, and then she opened the door; the other girls followed.

At their feet they found a small brown package with a note taped to the front of it:

**OPEN ME OPEN ME**

**THINK YOU CAN HANDLE IT?**

**WE'LL SEE WE'LL SEE**

**:)**

"A message. What a surprise," Emily said with a roll of her eyes. Spencer leaned down to grab it, but before she could-

"Don’t open it!" Hanna yelled at her.

"Why?"

"Just wait, Spence," Hanna told her calmly. She ran over to the couch and grabbed a tissue from the table, then she went back to the door and picked up the small package with one hand. She checked outside to make sure no one was listening, and then she closed the door with her other hand. She didn't say anything as she walked over to the table and dropped the package there.

The other girls made their way around the table.

"We can't open this,” she whispered to them.

"Why are you whispering?" Aria asked her.

"We have to take this to the police," Hanna told her with a low voice.

"Hanna!" Emily said, shocked.

"Look guys," she said slightly raising her voice. "I know it's not exactly ideal but...If we bring this to the cops they might be able to help us with it."

"This is because of Holbrook isn't it?" Aria asked her annoyed.

"As a matter of fact, yes it is Aria. We can't keep hiding things from the police anymore. It's what got us into trouble so many times in the past. We’ve dodged too many bullets too many times."

"And you're sure we should go to them?" Spencer asked her carefully.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I do trust Gabe. We’re gonna bring this to him first."

"Just a friend huh?" Aria muttered under her breath.

"Cat got your tongue, Aria? I'm gonna need you to speak up a little louder,” Hanna told her sarcastically.

**~*HALF-AN-HOUR LATER-ROSEWOOD POLICE STATION*~**

Gabe spotted her from the window as she walked into the police station. She was with Spencer, Emily, and Aria, all of them with anxious expressions on their faces. Except for Hanna, who looked genuinely happy to see him. She was carrying what looked like a box under her jacket, and he noticed that she was wearing gloves.

He immediately walked over to them.

"Hey," he said to Hanna. "Hi, girls," he said to the rest. They each murmured a "hello" back.

"What's that?" He asked pointing to the box in her hands.

Hanna gestured for him to follow her a few feet away from the other girls so that they could have a little privacy.

"Someone dropped this off at Lucas' apartment today, and I think it's from the person who kidnapped me" she whispered to him.

"And you're sure it's for you?" He whispered back, crossing his arms.

"I have a pretty good feeling," she told him, her voice still low.

Gabe looked to the other police officers who all seemed to be busy doing their own thing. Then he looked at Hanna, and the others.

"Okay. Let's go to my office," he said normally.

**~*TEN MINUTES LATER-ROSEWOOD POLICE STATION*~**

"Alright, so I just called Tanner, and she's gonna be here in fifteen minutes. I also gave the box to some people in evidence who are gonna make sure that it’s safe," Gabe said as he sat down at the head of the table in his office.

"Thank you," Hanna told him softly. She was sitting close to him with Spencer next to her, while Emily and Aria sat on the other side of the table.

Aria cleared her throat dramatically, and Hanna frowned at her.

"So in the meantime…Hanna?”

Hanna looked at him.

“You told me that you all had something you needed to tell me. What is it?" Gabe asked her.

"I'm not sure how to begin."

"That's okay."

"Alright...” she put her hands on the table and folded them “Did you ever hear what Charlotte did to us?"

Gabe paused for a moment as if he wasn't sure he should reply to her question.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," he said calmly.

"Well..." Hanna looked around the table waiting for their approval. They nodded. "We think it might be happening again."

"Wait…You think that the person who stalked you and kidnapped you…You think they’re copying Charlotte?"

“Yes. Look, the messages are one thing, but this person tried to kill all of us at least once. Hell, for all we know, it could be two people stalking us. One who wants revenge for Charlotte’s murder, and one who wants to frame us for the exact same murder.”

"Well you're gonna need a lot more evidence to convince Tanner."

Hanna smiled.

"I know."

She took out her cellphone from her pocket and flipped through the screen until she found what she was looking for.

"There. I took a screenshot of the message a few days after I got back from the hospital. Once I knew that you and Tanner were serious about the kidnapping investigation and Charlotte’s murder, I just knew I had to save it. In case something ever happened to it."

She handed the phone to him. Gabe raised his eyebrows in shock as he read over the message.

**Leave my friends alone. I killed Charlotte.**

****** If you're lying I [....../\\] all of you.**

**It's the truth. I'll call the cops.**

****** NO {*@*}**

****** This is between you and me.**

**I need one more day.**

****** It'll be your last.**

"Okay," he handed the phone back to Hanna. "Tanner needs to see this, _immediately_ ," he told them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: I think that's a good place to end it. Also, let’s pretend I know exactly what I’m doing as I attempt to write a little mystery in this. Writing this story is definitely fun, but I’m always having to remind myself that I’ve got college work, and all that other stuff. But sometimes when you have an idea, you just can’t get away from it, you know? That’s why I tend to write dialogue first before I do anything else. At least then I have some idea where the story is going. Until next time!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: Warning. This is a looooooooong chapter. Can you believe they’re bringing in another guy to play a detective in Rosewood for season seven? Seriously, look it up. The writers really hate this ship don’t they? Oh well. That’s why fanfiction exists.

**~*ONE HOUR LATER- TANNER'S OFFICE*~**

"What do you mean there was nothing?" Gabe asked Tanner with his arms crossed. They were standing in her office while she was leaning over a desk filling out paperwork.

"There was nothing. It was completely empty and the lab didn't report anything suspicious."

He shook his head at her words.

"I don't believe it. I mean why would they lie about this?"

She scoffed as if she had expected this to happen.

"I'm not sure. All I know is that Ms. Marin was incredibly lucky the night of her kidnapping."

"Yeah, because of me."

"That doesn't mean it can't still be a set-up."

"But that message on Hanna's phone..."

"Well that seems to be the only valid thing these girls have brought in. But I'm still confident that one of them is hiding something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. But you can go ahead and tell them they can leave now."

Gabe knew he was going to have to approach this situation in an entirely new way…

**~*IN GABE'S OFFICE ONE MINUTE LATER*~**

Hanna drummed her fingers on the desk while Spencer checked her phone. Aria and Emily had just gone to the bathroom two minutes earlier, and they were still waiting for Gabe to come back with the results.

"Hey Han," Spencer called out to her, snapping Hanna back to reality, "Check this out."

She showed a video on her phone with Melissa in it. She was talking to a mysterious man in a cap who couldn't be seen.

"Where did you find this?" Hanna asked her.

"I've had it for a while. I started thinking about it after she left and I remember the way I felt when I first watched it six years ago. Aria knows about it too. We thought it was Ali's old friend Cyrus."

"Do you still think it's him?"

"I don't know. I don't even know if it's still important anymore. I mean it's been six years, for all we know this guy could be-"

The door opened before she could finish. Gabe stood in the door way with a slightly confused look on his face.

"Hey. Are you guys okay?"

They nodded quickly, and Spencer turned off her phone before he could see what was on it.

"Where did Aria and Emily go? I kind of need you all to be here for this."

"They went to the bathroom a couple of minutes ago," Hanna told him.

There was something off about his expression that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Hanna got up from her chair and walked over to him with her arms crossed.

"Gabe..." she lowered her voice, "Is everything alright?"

Before he could answer, Emily and Aria came through the door.

"Uh...What's going on here?" Aria asked everyone.

"He was just about to tell us," Hanna replied.

Gabe could feel all their eyes on him, and it was starting to make him feel nervous.

"Okay," he chuckled lightly. "Now before I say anything, I just want to tell you guys about a book I read last week. It was kind of funny because this judge and this cop, they go off and they drive around this town causing all sorts of trouble-"

"Gabe," Hanna said sternly.

He calmed down a little bit after that.

"Okay. So bad news first. The results didn't show anything alarming."

Spencer got up from her seat.

"What? That's not possible!" She yelled out.

She walked over to where he and the girls were.

"There has to be some sort of trace on there. Something. _Anything_."

"There's nothing, I swear. Not even a strand of hair," Gabe told her.

"Now we're back to where we started," Emily said sadly.

"Well...Not exactly," Gabe told them. He glanced at Hanna as if he wasn't sure he should continue, but he pressed on.

"You guys need answers...And I'm going to give them to you...Starting with me and Charlotte," he said with determination.

As if on cue, they all made their way over to the table and sat down in their seats. When they were all settled in, Gabe started telling his story...

"Well it all started six years ago. It was the night you all went missing from that fundraiser..."

**~*SIX YEARS AGO - INTERROGATION ROOM ROSEWOOD POLICE STATION*~**

Charlotte, back when she was going under the alias "Cece Drake," was trying to con her way out of a murder charge. She claimed she knew who killed the girl in Alison Dilaurentis' grave, but Gabe wasn’t buying it.

"So who killed her?" He asked her.

"The same person who's still trying to hurt my friend," she replied.

"Oh, which friend is that?"

"Alison...She's alive."

This was certainly an interesting turn of events.

"You've seen her?" Gabe asked her incredulously.

"More than once…and I can prove it," Cece told him.

Gabe laughed at her claims.

"Well if you can prove it, then show me."

Cece smirked at him.

"I have a photo in my bag. I wish I could show you, but that's sure gonna be hard to do with these handcuffs on me."

He smirked back at her.

"There's no need. We have your bag already."

He got up to retrieve it from another room, but before he could, she stopped him.

"Oh, and by the way. The person who really killed that girl? It was Spencer Hastings."

He stopped dead in his tracks and turned around.

"Spencer? Hanna's friend?"

**~*FIVE HOURS LATER - ROSEWOOD POLICE STATION BATHROOM*~**

Gabe looked into the mirror of the men's bathroom.

_"What have I gotten myself into?"_ He thought as the distinct noise of the police station could be heard through the wall next to him. The sound of phones ringing and people talking over each other. It was always like this, but tonight it was different.

Tonight, he had managed to find Alison Dilaurentis.

He had to admit, he was actually pretty happy about it. His first big case, and the murdered person was actually alive. But he still had the matter of Spencer killing whoever was in that grave. And then there was Cece... What was she up to?

To be honest, he didn't know if Spencer actually did kill that girl. The evidence seemed to point the finger at her, but he just wasn't sure about any of it. The only reason he kept all the Hastings separated was because for a split second, he actually did believe it.

Now all he could focus on was Cece Drake.

**~*ONE WEEK LATER -ROSEWOOD POLICE STATION*~**

"Yes, please tell her. Thank you. Bye."

Gabe had just hung up on Alison's dad after reminding him that she needed to see a doctor. To be honest, a part of him felt sorry for what she had just been through, but he was still a little skeptical.

For one thing, her story didn't match up. He wrote it down for the record, but he knew that her story was not true. At the very least, she wasn't telling him the whole story.

But then he got an idea.

He bolted out of his chair and hurried over to the filing cabinet. He flipped through until he found what he was looking for: "Hastings, Melissa."

He saw her number on the file.

"Well, it's a start," he said out loud to himself. He took out his cellphone and dialed the number.

Ring...Ring...Rin-

"Hello?"

She sounded confused.

"Hi! Melissa? Melissa Hastings?"

"Yes?"

"This is detective Holbrook."

"Oh! Why are you calling me?"

More confusion.

"I need to talk to you about someone. Someone that I can't say over the phone, but can we meet somewhere?"

**~*THREE DAYS LATER - A PARK IN ROSEWOOD*~**

Gabe looked at the park bench and laughed. It was a total cliché, like something out of a spy movie, but he knew it was the only way they could be alone.

He walked up to it and sat down. He checked his watch.

**7:05 P.M.**

"It's nice that you still wear a watch. Most people prefer to just look at their phones these days," he heard Melissa's voice say.

He smiled at her in the friendliest way he could manage.

"So...You showed up."

She sat down next to him.

"I did. So who did you want to talk about?"

"Spencer."

Melissa was taken aback.

"Spencer?"

"On the night your sister and her friends went missing, you looked like you were about to tell me something, but then your dad stopped you. What was it?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because I think Cece is dangerous. No one has any idea where she is, and I'm just worried that she's gonna go after them one day."

Melissa nodded. He could tell that she didn't want to say anything, but for some reason, she decided to confide in him.

"It's not only Cece you have to worry about. It's Alison too. They're working together."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't trust her. I never have. There's always been something about Alison that I never liked."

"Look, if you think Alison was a bitch before she went missing-"

"She was worse than that! ‘Bitch’ is too good of a word for her. I heard that she's telling everyone that she was kidnapped."

"And you don't believe her?"

"I don't. Think about it. She goes missing for two years, but in the meantime, my sister and her friends have all these horrible things happening to them. Now suddenly she's back and everything's stopped?"

"Maybe it's just coincidence."

"It's not. And it's only a matter of time before she tries to drag me or Spencer down with her."

"So what do you think we should do?"

Melissa looked at him curiously.

**~*FOUR DAYS LATER- NIGHT, HASTINGS BARN*~**

It was late. Gabe adjusted the cap on his head. He didn't care for his new haircut, but that should have been the least of his worries.

He passed through the bushes and saw the light go on in the barn.

She knew he was coming.

That was how they had planned it.

He saw the door open and Melissa came out with an envelope in her hands. She handed it to him, and he immediately put it under his arm.

"Do it. Trust me. Do it," she told him urgently.

He nodded in understanding, and then he left.

**~*TWO DAYS LATER-GABE'S APARTMENT*~**

They had come up with a plan to thwart Alison from the inside-out. Gabe had no idea if Melissa's claims that Alison was dangerous were actually true, but he would have to find out for himself. Melissa had come up with a plan to get Alison on his side so he could spy on her. She was convinced that if he managed to get her walls down, they would be one step closer to exposing her once and for all.

But now he was at a loss. How could he possibly convince someone like that to tell him all of her secrets? Let alone confess that she's some sort of criminal mastermind?

He looked through the papers that Melissa had given him. It was all useless stuff. Just some photographs of Alison looking like she was yelling at high school students. He had no idea where Melissa had gotten them, but he didn't question it. Maybe she had them ripped out of the high school's yearbook or something.

The girl in these photographs looked nothing like the one he saw nearly two weeks ago.

He sighed and put the photographs back into the yellow envelope.

**~*TWO DAYS LATER-ROSEWOOD POLICE STATION*~**

He finally got the opportunity he had been waiting for. He had gotten word all around the station that Alison was coming in to take a lie detector test to confess something. He also heard that the confession had something to do with Spencer and the girl in her grave.

He knew this was his one shot, and he was taking it.

He looked through the glass at Alison trying to keep his cool. He didn't even respond when one of the officers asked him if they should wait for Tanner.

All he could think of was doing what Melissa had told him.

_"Do it. Trust me. Do it."_

**~*THREE DAYS LATER-ALISON'S HOUSE*~**

Manipulating the lie detector test was surprisingly easy.

Now he needed to convince Alison that he was on her side.

They were sitting on the couch in her family’s living room, and he had just told her about the results of her lie detector test.

She passed it, more or less.

"I did? That's great!" She flashed a huge grin at him. He tried to do the same, but something about it felt unnatural, although she didn't seem to notice much.  


"Yeah, you did. Thanks to me I should add," he said with a wink.

She smiled even more at this.

"So...Is that all?" She asked him.

"Yes...I believe so."

He got up to leave, but Alison stopped him.

"Can I...Can I see you again?"

She looked at him with a look he had never seen before. It was a look like she wanted to...

Uh-oh.

But following Melissa's advice, he decided to just go with it. He tried to muster the most realistic smile he could.

"Yeah, sure. Maybe. I'll call you soon."

Alison grinned cheekily at him, and after that he got up and let himself out.

Once he got inside his car, he let out a deep breath.

_"I don't how actors do it,"_ he thought to himself.

**~*THE NEXT NIGHT-GABE'S APARTMENT*~**

Well that was certainly gonna win him some points. He didn't actually want to arrest Spencer, but he needed to keep up appearances. If he let Spencer get away, then someone would have caught on to his plan, and he wouldn't have been able to protect the girls.

And he knew how much favoritism could seriously screw someone over in the long run.

He was also thinking about Aria. Tanner had told him about her suspicions about her, and he had to admit, he sensed something was off about her.

He kept that in the back of his mind.

**~*A MONTH LATER-GABE'S APARTMENT*~**

Gabe had to laugh at himself. His entire getup was absolutely ridiculous. Between the fake beard, and the giant black belt, it all screamed "Too much!" in his head. But he needed the disguise to get in.

With one last look in the mirror, he went out the door.

**~*HALF AN HOUR LATER-ROSEWOOD ICE BALL*~**

He watched Hanna leave with Spencer. Where they were going, he had no idea. But he liked it better that way because now he didn't have to be concerned with running into her again.

He'd never admit it out loud, but he still found himself thinking about the time they spent together every now and again.

He might even go so far as to say he kind of missed her.

He walked over to the maze and took off his beard, and adjusted the belt on his Santa suit. The hat he kept on, because he still wanted to keep that mysterious aspect of him. He walked through the maze some more, and that was when he saw Alison.

She closed the curtain in order to give herself a little privacy.

She noticed he was there and smirked at him. He smiled as convincingly as he could, and slowly walked over to her.

Before he could stop himself, he found himself kissing her. It was a very strange kiss, and he honestly didn't know what made him do it. Maybe it was the mistletoe he had noticed at the last minute near them.

But it had already been done. He stopped kissing her, faked a smile, and told her he would meet her after the ball was over.

She took the bait.

**~*ONE HOUR LATER-ROSEWOOD ICE BALL*~**

_"Naughty list? Really?"_ He thought to himself shaking his head. He thought there was still something off about Aria, but now he needed to focus on Alison once again.

But she had disappeared.

**~*TWO HOURS LATER-ROSEWOOD ICE BALL*~**

He was chatting with a girl when he noticed Alison walking with another girl in a white hood.

_"Finally!"_ He thought to himself. He excused himself and started following them quietly until he was interrupted by Ezra Fitz, of all people.

He never got the chance to follow them.

**~*THREE HOURS LATER-GABE'S APARTMENT*~**

He drove home immediately after Fitz had stopped him. He called Alison and told her that he felt sick and had to leave.

She took it shockingly well.

Now he was lying in bed in his pajamas, and no, they were not red.

He looked to his left and saw a Sherlock Holmes book lying on his nightstand.

He picked it up and began reading…

Five minutes into the novel and he was starting to feel more like himself again.

**~*THREE MONTHS AND TWO WEEKS LATER-HOTEL OUT OF TOWN*~**

This case in Pittsburgh was stressing him out, and he had enough on his plate already. He had only seen Alison a few times at a few secret spots. He stopped kissing her after that and had only opted to kissing her on the cheek, always making the excuse that he was "busy" or "taking it slow."

He also took a bunch of selfies with her, something his dad had noticed when he had gone to visit him a of couple weeks ago. His dad had just assumed she was another girlfriend of his and didn't question it. His brother had also butted in and saw the pictures too, but he was too young to make sense of what was going on and had ridden off on his bike out of "boredom."

Gabe would explain it all to them later. Well...his dad first. His brother...much _much_ later.

As far as getting Alison to confess to something sinister, his luck was pretty low on that front. She never talked about anything important when they were together, which probably meant she didn’t fully trust him yet. Which brought him back to square one of knowing absolutely nothing.

The only thing he knew for sure was that Cece Drake was missing.

In the meantime, he would have to concentrate on Pittsburgh...Although that was a little hard to do with Internal Affairs becoming his new roommates.

One of them had left to go get some food while he stayed with the other one. A man in his mid-forties who was busy looking through a newspaper.

"When can I go back to Pittsburgh? I was working on a case there," he asked him.

The man looked up and smiled.

"You don't have to worry about that anymore."

Gabe didn't prompt him to speak anymore, but something about the way he had said it had made him uneasy.

_"I'm in big trouble,"_ he thought worriedly.

**~*THE NEXT DAY- SATURDAY IN FRONT OF ROSEWOOD POLICE STATION*~**

They finally released him, and he drove to the Rosewood Police Station that morning. He spotted Veronica Hastings talking to some people outside of the station, stopped to say a quick "Hello," and then left.

That business with the Hastings in the station seemed like it was only yesterday…

**~*THREE HOURS LATER- ROSEWOOD POLICE STATION*~**

"Officer Cavanaugh told detective Tanner that you messed around with Alison Dilaurentis' lie detector test. So we've decided to give you a suspension spanning two months. No pay. No privileges."

Gabe was shocked.

"But...What...How am I supposed to take care of my family? They need the money."

He sighed and put his face in his hands.

"We're sorry that it's come to this, but you've done too much harm to this investigation already. We have to let you go."

He slowly raised his face from his hands. He was surprised to learn that his voice was a little shaky.

" _This department_ has screwed up the investigation from the start, and now you're trying to blame it on me?!"

He got up from his chair.

" _You have no idea what's really going on here do you?_ Not a clue!" With that last sentence, he slammed the door behind him, and went for his box of belongings on the desk.

He made a big show of angrily grabbing a few items off of his desk.

Toby Cavanaugh had ratted him out, and now his career, it was all over.

He turned the corner around the waiting room and saw Caleb Rivers standing in front of Hanna like a shield.

Gabe was starting to get it now.

"Perfect," he said as he saw the uneasy look on Hanna's face. "Just perfect." He smiled and walked past the two of them.

**~*FIVE MINUTES LATER- IN POLICE CAR*~**

He knew he could never fully trust Alison, but he had never expected this from Hanna.

_"She looked pretty guilty in that station. And the way Caleb was standing in front of her...God, I'm an idiot. It was her all along! She must have been the one to report me! That’s why Spencer’s boyfriend Toby talked to Tanner about me. And Alison must have told Hanna to get close to me before she came back,"_ he thought in his car.

Suddenly, he had an idea.

**~*SIX HOURS LATER-ROSEWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD*~**

It had taken a while, but he had managed to find Hanna at someone's home. He followed her as she drove onto a remote road. He had tried to talk to Tanner about his attempt to protect the girls, but she refused to hear him out. She had completely cut him off, and it didn't make his bad day any better.

He turned on the sirens and waited for her to slow down to a stop. As soon as she did, he slowly got out of the car and hid in the bushes nearby. He made sure to leave the lights on so she wouldn't suspect anything.

He heard her get out of the car and saw her walk over to his car and look inside.

He saw an opportunity.

He grabbed her arms and forced her to stay where she was.

"Hello, Hanna," he said with as much malice as he could. He could feel Hanna trying to get away from him, but he refused to let go.

"They suspended you. Why do you have this car?" She asked him as confidently as she could, although he could tell she was nervous.

"I haven't gotten around to turning it in. You gonna report me? I might get in trouble for that."

He knew he was being a jerk, but he didn't really care. He didn't care about anything anymore, _especially_ where _she_ was concerned. Hanna tried to break free from his grip, but he only tightened his hold on her.

"Let go of me! Now!" She yelled in his face.

  
"I need to ask you a question first," he said urgently. "How does a girl like Alison become a girl like Alison?"

Hanna looked overwhelmed by his closeness, but she managed to keep her cool.

"She's had years of practice."

Gabe needed Hanna to know exactly what she put him through.

"I had a career...the start of one. I don't have that anymore. I'm finished...because of _her_."

He tightened his grip on her arm.

"You could have said _no_ ," Hanna sneered at him. For a second he was confused. Why did she care about what he did with Alison? They were working together!

"You didn't have to do all of her dirty work. Cleaning out all that junk from the storage space, trying to kill Spencer, Aria, and Caleb!"

Gabe was confused by her anger, but he figured it had something to do with her and Alison teaming up together. Still, he figured he might as well give her some sort of answer.

"No, you're getting me mixed up with the wrong fall guy. I spent the last few weeks locked up in a hotel with a couple of old-timers from internal _affairs_!"

Hanna breathed out and looked down. Now she thought he was lying?

The nerve.

"You don't believe me?! Ask Tanner. Tanner knows everything."

"Wait a minute-" She started to say, but he moved closer to her in anger.

"She cut me off," he said to her.

"When?"

Hanna looked scared, but she still managed to get it out.

_"Oh, that's nice. Now she's wondering when I was cut off. I bet she was waiting for that,"_ he thought bitterly. He decided he wasn't gonna let her go away so easily.

He smiled.

"Did Alison tell you to kiss me?" He asked her. He knew she wouldn’t have a response to that thanks to Alison; they had been working together all along.

"Oh, she did, didn't she?" He told her jokingly. He released her arms, and grabbed her chin with his hand to try and kiss her, but before he could, she hit him with her tire iron.

The force nearly broke his arm.

"You don't get to play the victim here!" Hanna yelled over him as he grabbed his arm. "You're the grown up police officer, she's just a girl. If Ali really did cut you off, congratulations. You don't know how lucky you are."

Gabe glared at her as she walked off, and got into her car. His arm still hurt from the force of the tire iron, so he tried to shake it off, though it didn't help much.

After about ten seconds or so, he started to get used to the pain, and he looked up in time to see her car disappear into the night.

**~*PRESENT DAY- GABE'S OFFICE*~**

"So after that, I was suspended. I returned the police car, and I got back some more of my stuff that I had left behind. After you guys were kidnapped, I called Melissa and she agreed that we had to put our plan back in action again. I went to Alison’s press conference to see what I could pick up. Then you were found, and I only came back once to pick up a letter for Melissa. And after we discovered what Cec-Charlotte had done to you, we stopped the plan because you were all safe. And that was it. I left.”

The girls were speechless from his story. They each looked at one another to jump start any sort of response, but none came.

Hanna however, was more than just speechless. Gabe could usually read her pretty well on most days, but now he didn't know what she was thinking.

She looked at him with an expression that was a cross between disappointment and disgust, and silently got up and out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm sorry. I tried to piece together what he was up to in season five, but some of it is just so hard to do. But hey, at least it’s out of the way. I’m not exactly sure what he was really up to in season five, but my guess is that it had something to do with Cece, Melissa, and Alison… I tried, okay? ;) And hallelujah, we have finally caught up with ALL of the chapters on ff.net. As soon as I update the story there, I will update it here.


	9. Chapter 9

**~*FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER - OUTSIDE OF CHURCH*~**

Hanna sat on the bench in front of the church just taking in the surroundings.

She was thinking about the day she almost turned herself into the cops after erasing the security footage.

**~*SOME TIME AGO - POLICE STATION WAITING ROOM*~**

Hanna couldn't believe the good news. Well, bad news for them, but not for her.

The Radley back-up drive was missing! Which meant she wouldn't get in trouble for erasing that footage of Aria from the computer.

“You didn't do that did you?” Jordan asked her.

“No,” she replied.

She looked into the glass and saw Lorenzo looking at her. The distaste in his eyes, she could deal with, but his suit...

It reminded her of someone who was long gone from her life...

Hanna swallowed before the memory of Gabe Holbrook could take over completely.

“Let's get out of here,” she quickly told Jordan.

**~*PRESENT DAY-CHURCH*~**

She rubbed her hands together out of nervousness.

“Hanna?” Gabe’s voice asked near her.

“And here I thought you would never find me,” she said out loud bitterly.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Hanna shuffled uneasily in her seat.

“I'm fine.”

“I don't think you are.”

“Yeah, well, first I find out you're an idiot, and then I find out you're a hypocrite. I'm not sure which one is worse.”

He sat down.

“I know. And I'm sorry about that.”

“You know it's funny how much of a hard time you gave me that night. All because you thought I was working with Alison and setting you up. Even though you were doing the same thing with Melissa.”

Hanna turned to face him.

“Tell me. What would you have done if you were never caught? Would you have gone on pretending to like Ali?”

“I don't know.”

“Well, would you have dumped her as soon as it looked like she wasn't guilty?”

“I don't know.”

“Even if it meant that she had actually started to like you for real?!”

She was practically screaming now.

“I don't know!” He snapped at her. “I...I don't know what I would have done.”

“Well...” she breathed in and out. “This is something that's gonna take me a _very_ long time to forgive.”

“I never asked for your forgiveness. I just wanted you, _all of you_ , to know the truth.”

“Oh, I'm glad we do. And I can't wait to tell Ali your little story.”

Gabe swallowed nervously, but didn't protest.

Hanna put aside her anger.

“So what now then? How exactly does your honesty help us out with whoever's after us now?”

“I'm not sure yet.”

Hanna pursed her lips, annoyed.

He put his arm around her on the bench. “You know sooner or later, I think you'll find out how much of a good team we can make, Han.”

She laughed and crossed her arms. He put his arm away from her and put them in his lap.

“So what do we do about that box? What did Tanner say?” She asked him.

“I can't tell you yet.”

“Right. And here I thought you were helping us,” she told him disgusted.

“Hey, I've gotta keep this job, okay? If I lose it again, then I can't help you. So after this, I'm gonna go back to the station and look over Charlotte's file. Pick up on anything I may have missed.”

“And what do I do? Stay here until you come back?” Hanna asked him dryly.

“No, you're gonna go back and talk to your friends. The file only helps me with records, but I need you guys to think about Charlotte. What she did to you, and who could have a vendetta against you four.”

“You mean besides her?”

**~*FOUR HOURS LATER-STREET IN ROSEWOOD*~**

Hanna was walking down the street thinking about the events of the day. The strange box, Gabe's confession, all of it.

She came to a red light and hit the “walk button.” As soon as it was okay to walk, she began crossing the intersection.

All of a sudden, she heard the roar of an engine come up near her.

A car was speeding up to her and she dodged out of the way just in time. There were only a few cars in the street, but a couple of them honked their horns at the maniac who was clearly on the streets.

Hanna put her hand on her heart as she tried to catch her breath.

_“Damn. Will it ever end?”_ She thought as she tried to get to the other side of the street.

**~*THE NEXT MORNING- SPENCER'S HOUSE*~**

“Are you okay?” Spencer asked Hanna with concern.

“Oh yeah. Just great! I love getting hit by cars,” she replied sarcastically.

“Okay. So we go into the basement of The Radley and find evidence that will tell us who this ‘A’ might be,” Spencer told them.

“We already tried that remember? We lured ‘A’ out and I almost got killed over it,” Hanna told her.

“Well, let's take it slow. We need to find out who these people are and _fast_. The way we can do that is by checking out the people that we know. That Alison knows.”

“There's her husband, Dr. Rollins,” Emily said.

“And Charlotte,” Spencer said.

“Lucas knows Ali too. She wasn't very nice to him in high school,” Hanna told her matter-of-factly.

“Well so far the only thing those people have in common are Alison. Charlotte's dead so we can rule her out,” Emily told them.

“We can rule out Elliot too,” Aria said.

The others looked at her with confusion.

“Well...I mean he seemed so concerned about Ali after she got into that hospital.”

“Well either way, we have two suspects. Rollins and –“

“No.” Spencer interrupted Hanna.

She opened her mouth in shock as if she were remembering something.

“The night you were kidnapped...we saw footage of Ali's mom on surveillance footage. But when we checked it again, it was gone. We thought it might have been old footage from years ago but now...”

“Spence. You're not seriously suggesting that Mrs. D came back from the dead are you?” Hanna asked her amused.

“No, of course not, but...What if it wasn't a glitch?”

“You think she faked her own death?” Emily asked her curiously.

“Maybe? It happened to Ali. Everyone thought she was dead but it was really Bethany Young all along. It's possible that it could happen. God knows this town has had its fair share of strange happenings.”

“Unless it's not really her. It's her twin,” Hanna told them.

“A twin? Come on, Hanna,” Aria laughed at her theory.

“As far as I know, we can't bring back the dead...but twins are very possible.”

“Actually she may be on to something,” Spencer told her. “I found a Radley file with the name Mary Dilau- sorry, Mary Drake on it. Maybe that was her?”

Suddenly, Hanna's cell phone rang. She immediately picked it up and answered it.

“Gabe? Did you find anything?”

“Hanna, you will not believe what I've found. I can't tell you over the phone, but we need to meet somewhere.”

“I'm at Spencer's.”

“I'll be there in fifteen minutes.”

**~*FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER-SPENCER'S LIVING ROOM*~**

“Okay, so what did you find out –“

Gabe put his hand up to silence Hanna as he walked through the door. He slowly made his way over the kitchen and took out a notepad from his jacket pocket.

He wrote something on it.

**CHARLOTTE AND DR ROLLINS.**

Hanna frowned.

“Okay? We know he was her...”

She wrote on his paper.

**THERAPIST**

“So? How does that help us? He's Ali's,” she whispered, “ _Husband_.”

“Are you sure about that?” Gabe asked her in his normal speaking voice.

The other girls looked at him curiously.

“When I was going through the files, I noticed something strange about the good doctor. Over the course of two years, he clocked out an hour later than he was supposed to during every other appointment. And then it hit me. Who was the last person to see Alison before she fell off those stairs?”

“Elliot,” Emily told him.

“And before she got sent to the hospital?”

“No one. We didn't get to her until later because Ali thought she was hallucinating.” Aria told him.

“And where was Rollins?”

“Ali said he was...Out of town,” Aria said slowly.

“Wait, so you think Rollins killed Charlotte?” Hanna asked him skeptically.

“Oh no! No, I actually think he had a bit of a thing for her.”

“What?!” The girls all cried at once.

“That's completely...that's too much even for us,” Spencer told him.

“Doesn't mean it's impossible. The person who wants revenge for her death might be closer than you guys think–“

RING! RING! RING!

“Oh!” Gabe whipped around. “That's my phone. It's probably Tanner telling me to come back to the station,” he laughed as he finished the sentence.

But as soon as he took one look at the phone in his hands, his expression began to turn serious.

“Um...on second thought, I should probably take this outside. Do you guys mind if I...?”

They nodded their heads in understanding. As soon as he was out of the room, Aria began to whisper.

“Rollins? Do we really believe that?”

“But what about Mrs. D?” Hanna questioned Spencer carefully.

“Well first we need to confirm that she actually had a twin and –.“

Spencer never had a chance to finish her reply because Gabe walked back into the room.

“I'm sorry to cut this short, but I gotta go. I'll see you guys tomorrow,” and with that he turned around and walked right over to the door.

Hanna ran after him before he could open it.

“Gabe! What is it?” She asked him concerned.

He gestured for her to follow him outside.

Once they were out of ear-shot, he began to speak.

“Tanner needs to speak to me about something important. She said it had something to do with all the murders in town. She doesn't usually talk about this kind of thing over the phone.”

He gave her a quick smile, turned around, and began to walk away.

As she watched him walk away, an uneasy feeling began to creep over Hanna.

**~*TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER-ROSEWOOD POLICE STATION*~**

“Gabriel, I want you to meet someone,” Tanner ushered Gabe over to the front of the precinct. Suddenly, an older man turned around and smiled at him.

He extended his hand for him to shake.

“Hi! My name is Marco, but I go by Marc. Marc Furey.”

Gabe took his hand and shook it firmly.

“So what brings you here Mr. Furey? Are you here to recruit me for a spot in ‘the avengers’?” Gabe asked him jokingly.

Marc look confused, but then he understood his joke.

“Oh! Ha ha! No, I'm just here because I'm going to be looking over the homicides in this town.”

Now it was Gabe's turn to look confused.

“Wait, what?” He turned to Tanner. “Linda, what is he talking about?”

“I'm sorry Gabriel, but I'm taking you off the cases here. I'm sending you back to Pittsburgh.”

Gabe looked shocked. Not out of anger, but out of desperation. He walked over to a corner, and she followed him while Marc stayed behind.

“I don't understand. You need me on this case. I was there when we first arrested Charlotte for Wilden, I can go through the files and –“

“I'm sorry, but I can't let you on this case anymore.”

“Why not?”

“Because you're too emotionally invested. I saw you going through Charlotte's file --- the one that was in my office. You had that desperate look on your face like you were protecting someone, and I don't need that right now. I need someone unattached who can sort through all of these murders,” she told him quietly.

“But Hanna...” he started sadly. “What if Furey never solves this case?” He asked her urgently.

Tanner noticed how distraught he looked and put her hand on his shoulder.

“He will. Sometimes we do our job pretty well,” she told him gently. And with that, she began to walk away from him.

“Wait!” Gabe called out.

“Yes, what is it?”

He walked over to her.

“I want to stay in Rosewood. Even if I'm not allowed to look into this anymore, I'd still like to help.”

Tanner thought about it for a moment.

“You're part of the state police, Gabriel. Your job is over in Pittsburgh, not here. But if you want to continue living here, who am I to stop you? Just know that you'll have to drive out to Pittsburgh when I tell you –“

“I don't care. I'm staying here.”

Tanner could tell that he was determined to stay and smiled.

“Very well. Is there anything else you wish to tell me?”

Gabe remembered Charlotte and Dr. Rollins.

“Actually yeah. When I was looking through the files, I noticed something strange about Rollins and Charlotte. I think he wants revenge for her murder, and is the one who kidnapped Hanna that night.”

“Really? Hmm...Alright, I'll tell Marco about it.”

Gabe nodded and smiled gratefully.

“Thank you.”

**~*ONE HOUR LATER-SPENCER'S HOUSE*~**

Emily had just left to go visit Ali at the hospital while Spencer, Aria, and Hanna stayed behind to try and figure out whatever the hell was going on in Rosewood.

“Okay guys, we don't even know if it was actually Mary or not. But we know next to nothing about this Rollins guy. I mean how long were he and Ali dating for?” Spencer asked the two of them.

“Two days,” Hanna said sarcastically.

“Either way, we need to be careful around him.”

“But guys, we still don't even know if he's bad or not. So far he's kept his hands clean,” Aria told them nervously.

Knock knock!

The girls turned around and saw Emily through the door.

Spencer rushed over and opened it for her. Emily started breathed heavily as if she had just run a marathon.

“Guys...Guys...Ali is...” She tried to catch her breath. “Ali had some violent episodes in the hospital today.”

“What do you mean by ‘episodes’”? Aria asked her.

“I mean...When I went to go see her today, she was thrashing about. I saw her, and I couldn't believe it. And then I saw Elliot, he and a bunch of other nurses were trying to hold her down. And then they stabbed her with a needle and she was fine. She never even knew I was there.”

“Do you know how long this has been going on?”

“I don't know. The nurse wouldn't tell me. But if Rollins is after us, then maybe he's after Ali too.”

The girls looked at each other nervously.

“Ali's not safe anymore is she?” Aria asked them cautiously.

**~*THE NEXT MORNING- THE MARIN HOUSEHOLD*~**

Hanna saw him through the door. She got up and went to go open it for him.

“Hey!” She said smiling as she hugged him. But something was off about their hug. She let go.

“Gabe...What is it? What happened with Tanner?”

“I...well, it's not as bad it sounds but...I got pulled off the cases here in Rosewood.”

“ _What?!_ ”

“Yeah. They gave them all to this new guy named Marco Furey.”

“So what does that mean? I mean...Are you leaving?”

“No! No. I mean, Tanner's moving my cases to Pittsburgh."

Hanna looked down sadly.

“But it's okay!” He assured her. “I can stay here and still help you out. I'll just have to drive down to Pittsburgh every weekend, but it’s okay I can still help you guys with –“

“No.”

“No?”

“I can't ask you to stay here and go there...It's too much.”

“But it's no problem really.”

His answer surprised her.

“It isn't? Why?”

“Well...I care about you, Han. I mean we are friends aren't we? Why wouldn't I want to stay here and help you?” He said kindly.

Hanna almost got the wind knocked out of her after he said that. She knew he was a good person, but to hear him actually admit that he would do something like that for her?

She swallowed nervously and sat down at the table. Gabe sat down after her.

Hanna folded her hands on the table before speaking.

“You have got to be the world’s biggest idiot to actually believe Melissa and follow through on her plan," she began sternly, but then her expression softened. She unfolded her hands and grabbed one of his from across the table.

“But since you're staying here in Rosewood to help me out, I figured I might as well come clean and tell you everything.”

He looked at her, puzzled.

“What do you mean?”

She was still holding onto his hand.

“I mean everything that Charlotte did to us. Including all of the other stuff that didn't make the papers...”


	10. Chapter 10

**~*THE NEXT DAY – 4PM, AT A STREET IN NEW YORK*~**

Hanna was walking down a busy New York street as she chatted on the phone with Aria.

"Wait. You told him everything?" Aria asked her of the previous day’s events.

"Yes, Aria, everything. The dollhouse, the messages, the trauma, the Jenna thing, Wilden, Garrett, all of it."

"But why? Why now?"

"I don't know I just...I just suddenly had the urge to tell him."

"But after what he tried to do to Alison? What if he tells Tanner or that new detective what you told him?"

"Gabe was an idiot. He never should have gone to Melissa, let alone actually go through with their plan. I told him so the other day. But I don't think he'll tell anyone."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I'm not, but I've decided to trust him for some reason."

Silence.

"Aria? Hello? Are you still there?"

"...Yeah, I'm still here."

"Sounded like something happened to your phone."

"I was just thinking that's all."

"About...?"

"Well, I just..." Hanna could hear her sigh over the phone. "I just think it's strange how quickly you've forgiven him for this."

"He knows that he screwed up."

"I realize that, but...I don't know. I mean if I didn't know any better I'd say you were..."

Hanna stopped in front of a cafe so Aria could finish.

"You know what? Forget it."

"What, Aria?"

"Never mind. Trust me, I'm the last person to give advice on these types of things."

"Wait, what **–** "

"Oh, I gotta go! My dad's here."

"But Aria what-"

"Love you! Bye."

She hung up.

_"God what is up with her?"_ Hanna thought to herself. She brushed aside Aria's weird behavior and resumed her journey down the busy New York street.

She was going to have to hurry if she didn’t want to miss the 4:30 train back to Rosewood.

**~*TWO DAYS LATER - 8 AM, STREET IN FRONT OF GABE'S APARTMENT*~**

"So how long is this trip supposed to be?" Hanna asked Gabe as he arranged the belongings in the open trunk of his car.

"Only for the day," he replied as he rummaged through everything. "In and out. Easy. I just need to check on my dad. He's been having some health issues lately."

Gabe glanced at her before continuing.

"So how are you dealing with this whole 'A' thing? Are you okay?"

Hanna sighed impatiently and crossed her arms.

"I don't even know what to do anymore. ’A' is driving me crazy, and I just feel like there's nothing I can do. We're stuck on this whole twin theory, but other than that nothing's happened so far. I hate waiting for evidence."

"Maybe you just need to get away from Rosewood for a while."

She looked at him confused.

"What?"

"Yeah!" He stopped sorting through everything and leaned against the bumper of the car. "You know, you just need to get out of town for a while. Take your mind off it."

"I have a job in New York."

"That doesn’t sound like you taking your mind off of it.”

"Of course it does! When I’m there I’m focused on my job, and when I’m on the train home…Oh.”

"Hmm...See?" He nodded knowingly at her and closed the trunk.

Hanna thought for a moment, and then **–**

"You're right! I do need to take my mind off of it for a while."

"Exactly! Wait...I'm not sure I like where this is going."

"Oh, I'm sure you won't. You don't mind if I tag along with you do you?"

"What?! Why? I'm just visiting my family, it's not like I'm going to Hershey Park or anything. And besides, we've only been friends for less than two months now."

"I know, but I could use the distraction."

He turned away from her, not knowing how to reply.

" _Please?_ You honestly look like you could use the company," she said.

Gabe turned toward her again.

"Okay, when I said you needed to get out of town, _I didn't mean with me_."

She titled her head in annoyance.

"Oh come on! It could be fun. And I would love nothing more than to take a long drive out of the hell that is Rosewood."

Gabe struggled with the decision, but he eventually gave in.

"Tsk. Fine. You can come with me."

Hanna squealed excitedly and headed to the front of the car.

**~*ONE HOUR LATER-IN THE CAR*~**

"So how are you gonna explain me to your family?"

"I'm gonna say 'so dad I know I said I'd never bring a girl home again but...'" he said jokingly before laughing.

Hanna hit him playfully on his arm.

"Ha ha-ow! Okay, okay. I'll tell them the truth. 'My friend decided to tag along and I just couldn't say no'."

Hanna laughed sarcastically.

"So what's the story with you and your family huh?"

Gabe chuckled.

"You sure you wanna know, Han?"

"I can handle it, trust me."

"Alright, well, there's my dad. First name, James, but his friends call him 'Jimmy'. I just call him 'dad'."

"Oh yeah...James." Hanna said slowly.

Gabe turned at her in surprise for a second before looking at the road again. Hanna looked back at him.

"I actually met your dad years ago. Back when I thought you were one of the bad guys. It was right before you were suspended."

"Right," he said with sudden realization. "My dad mentioned that a blonde had come over looking for me around that time. I just never realized it was you." Snapping out of the confusion, he went back to explaining his family.

"Okay, well there's my pain-in-the-ass younger brother, David. He's a fifteen year old troublemaker, but I guess that's why younger siblings were created. And that's pretty much it."

"What about your mom?"

"My parents aren't exactly together anymore."

"What? Are you...?" Hanna lowered her voice, "Are your parents divorced too?"

Gabe smiled sadly, his eyes still straight ahead.

"If only it were that simple. No, my mom she...she died when I was seventeen. The eleven year anniversary was this July."

Hanna couldn't think of what to say, so she just settled on the automatic response.

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you, but I'm fine. Really."

But Hanna could see that talking about his mother seemed to drain the life out of him.

"Yeah, now. But you weren't okay eleven years ago were you? Who would be?"

"You're right. I wasn't. I was a mess when it happened. We all were. Well, my dad and I were at least. David was only four so he didn't really understand that his mommy was never coming back. My dad got hit the hardest though. He loved my mom so much, and after she died it was like he went into a black hole of depression. He started drinking, and he never hit my brother or anything like that, but he did get angry. Like, _really_ angry. He completely neglected everything and stopped paying bills. By the time I turned eighteen we lost our house, and so we had to move into this old trailer park over by Still Creek Road in Manohoy. Two months later I signed up for the police force, and the rest, as they say, is history."

"I get helping your family, but why a cop? Why would you want to endanger yourself if you're supporting your family?"

"My mom was...she was shot by a corrupt cop. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and that... _bastard_ , killed her to keep her quiet. And to make matters worse, they just let him walk away. It was then that I decided I was actually gonna help people as a cop, not hurt them. No matter what it took. Of course by the time I was made a detective, I had seen just enough to know how ridiculous my outlook was. When I first became a cop, I helped an old lady find her cat who had just run out of the house. Immediately after that, the whole idealistic outlook turned into harsh reality, and I realized that simply being a good guy wasn't enough. The system was way bigger than me, and if I didn't follow the rules, I wouldn't be able to keep on helping my family. But then someone made me realize that I wasn't completely powerless."

"Who?"

"You."

"Me? What did I do?"

"Do you remember when you came to me about Travis' dad? You said that exposing Wilden's corruptness 'had to count for something' in the courtroom. Do you remember that?"

"Yeah."

_"That was also the day that I tried to kiss you,"_ Hanna thought.

"The whole idealized I'm-gonna-take-down-the-bad-guys-because-it's-the-right-thing-to-do outlook that I adopted after I turned eighteen...I had lost that. But then you reminded me why I became a cop in the first place, not to blindly follow the rules, but to help people in any way that I could. And if I had just done it the easy way, Mr. Hobb's sentence might not have been so light."

Hanna didn't say a word and they continued for the next few minutes in silence.

"We're here," Gabe said as they pulled up to a one story house in a small neighborhood.

**~*TWO MINUTES LATER-FRONT PORCH OF JAMES HOLBROOK'S HOME*~**

"Dad!"

"Hey son," his dad said as he pulled him into a tight hug.

"Uh, dad, this is Hanna. Hanna, this is my dad."

He turned his hand toward his father, a stern-looking bald man who stuck his hand out for Hanna to shake. She took his hand in hers and shook it carefully.

"How are ya? Name is James but those closest to me call me Jimmy."

"It's nice to meet you."

She let go of his hand.

James looked at the two of them for a moment before speaking again.

"So when's the wedding?"

Hanna and Gabe looked at him confused and then at each other. Then he burst out laughing, nearly giving Hanna a heart attack.

"Ha ha ha, I'm just kidding! Nothing more than a little humor to lighten up the mood."

They laughed nervously.

"So what brings you two here?" James put his hands on his hips and adopted a friendly smile.

"Well dad, my _friend_ and I were just passing through and we wanted to make sure you were okay."

"God, one heart attack and suddenly everything is a dire emergency with you. Son, I've already told you I'm fine. You know your brother likes to exaggerate situations sometimes."

"Speaking of which, where is this so-called brother of yours?" Hanna asked Gabe.

"He's either with his girlfriend or he's pulling a prank on someone somewhere."

"Or he's right behind you," an unfamiliar voice called out. Gabe rolled his eyes as his brother approached them from behind him.

He was a kid roughly around fifteen years old, with light brown hair, and hazel eyes. He and Gabe looked somewhat similar, but Hanna could see that Gabe resembled his father more than his brother did.

His brother turned to Hanna and took out his hand for her to shake.

"How are ya? David. _Dave_."

Hanna shook his hand and smiled politely.

"So what's your name?"

"Hanna."

"Great to meet you. So you know my brother, huh?"

"Yeah, I do."

"You know there's something very familiar about you **–** Have we ever met before?"

She knew that he was referring to the night that she had tried to find James so she could verify Gabe's cover, but she also remembered the incredibly scarring surprise-filled teddy bear waiting for her in her car.

So she decided to lie about it.

"No, I don't think so."

David raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Huh. Weird."

Gabe put one hand on his dad's shoulder and began to speak.

"So dad, Hanna and I need to get going, but I'm glad you're okay."

James was stunned.

"What? Why are you leaving? Don't tell me Linda Tanner's got you tied up over there."

"This was only supposed to be a short visit dad."

"Well you two should at least come inside and try my apple pie. I added some powdered sugar to it this time."

"Sure!" Hanna answered enthusiastically before Gabe could reply. James stepped aside and let Hanna pass through the front door. David and Gabe followed behind her as James closed the door.

"Let me just grab some plates for everyone," he said as he walked into the kitchen.

David followed his father, while Gabe hung back with Hanna.

Hanna scanned the house and spotted a picture frame on a shelf. It was of a dark-haired baby who was smiling at the camera without any teeth.

"Awwwwww!" Hanna cried out as she practically ran over to the frame. Gabe followed her.

Hanna laughed.

"You were such a cute baby!" She said pinching his cheeks gently.

"Tell me something I don't know," he said with a grin.

She pushed his face gently away from her with her hand.

**~*FIVE MINUTES LATER-KITCHEN*~**

"I think adding the powdered sugar really did something great to it, Mr. Holbrook." Hanna told James politely with a smile. Which wasn't a lie; the pie had actually been very good.

"Thank you, Hanna. And please, call me 'Jimmy.' There's no need for any formalities here," James told Hanna casually. Hanna smiled and handed him the plate that was now empty, and he put it in the sink. He turned on the tap and poured some water over the plate.

"So..." He dried his hands on a dishtowel that was hanging on the oven nearby. "You're the same young woman who was looking for my son five years ago aren't you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Well I may be old, but my instincts are still pretty damn good. You seemed pretty familiar when I saw you, so I just took a shot in the dark. You are her aren’t you?"

"Well you’re certainly not wrong about that, I’ll tell you that much.”

"Ah! See? Instinct. Of course, I am a little surprised that my son didn't bring you over until now. Someone like you, I thought for sure he would have brought you home ages ago."

"Oh!" Hanna laughed nervously. "No, we just met up with each other a couple of months ago."

"Well that explains it."

David and Gabe walked back into the kitchen after finishing their pie in the dining room.

"Come on pops, are you really that surprised? This guy has never brought any of his girlfriends home before, so why should this be any different?" David asked him. Gabe whacked him in the head.

"Hey!"

James rolled his eyes and turned away from them.

"You can take the brother out of the home, but you can't take the 'kid' out of the brother..." he muttered under his breath. He cleared his throat.

"Now stop that boys!" He turned around and smiled at Hanna. "After all, we have a guest in our home."

"Sorry, dad."

"Sorry, pop."

David handed his plate to Gabe, who handed both of their plates to their father so James could put them in the sink.

Hanna smiled and walked over to David. "Oh, and just so you know, 'Dave,' I'm not his girlfriend." She nodded in Gabe's direction.

David grinned.

"Okay." He put up his hands in defeat. "Whatever you say."

He chuckled and made his way down the hallway nearby.

"Ignore him," Gabe told her.

But Hanna couldn't ignore him. At least not after what he had just said.

_"Why does everyone think that Gabe and I have something going on? I just broke up with my fiancé for God's sake!"_ Hanna thought as she watched David go into a room and shut the door.

 

**~*THIRTY MINUTES LATER-IN THE CAR, HEADING BACK TO ROSEWOOD*~**

The radio was on while Gabe drove them back to Rosewood. Some pop song was playing while Hanna went over the events of the last few days.  


_"Gabe and I are just friends. So why does everyone think that we're on the verge of starting something?"_ Hanna thought to herself. She leaned up in her seat and turned down the volume on the radio.

"Gabe?"

He quickly glanced at her.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

He glanced back at her again.

"Of course you can."

"What do you think about...?" Hanna sighed.

This was going to be a lot harder then she thought.

"What do you think...about me?"

Gabe smiled, his eyes still fixed on the road.

"I think you're great. Is that a problem?"

"No, it's not. But what do you like about me? I mean, is there anything in particular about me that you find interesting?"

"Han...Where is this coming from?"

"Nowhere I just...Could you please just humor me?" She asked him gently.

"Okay, fine. Let's see...you are...stubborn...highly intelligent, even if you don't always want to admit it," he glanced in her direction. "Uh...a very good friend...kind, caring, the type of person who doesn't take any crap from anyone, strong..."

He glanced back at her one more time.

"And very beautiful. Does that answer your question?"

Hanna smiled at him.

"Yeah. Yeah it does, thank you."

"No problem. Actually, you know what? Since you asked me **–** "

"Oh no **–** "

"Yes, now you have to say what you like about me. Go."

"Gabe...let's just listen to the music again."

"You're only saying that because you can't think of anything."

"That-that's not true! I like you! I really do. But you're driving and I didn't want to distract you with all of my _words_."

"Uh-huh. Sure."

"Okay, you know what? Fine. You are a very nice person when you're not being an idiot. How's that?"

"It'll do for now."

"Good."

Hanna raised the volume of the radio.

"And who knows? Maybe I'll have more to say to you later," Hanna told him.

"Maybe," Gabe told her with one last glance in her direction.

Hanna faked a strong front, but on the inside she was screaming. She knew that Gabe liked her, and she couldn't deny that she liked him too.

But what if those feelings turned into real love one day?

What then?

**~*LUCAS'S APARTMENT 9 PM*~**

Hanna paced around the apartment trying to decide what she was going to do about her and Gabe's "relationship."

_"Why does everything about us have to be so damn complicated?"_ Hanna thought to herself.

On the table nearby, an invitation to an event lay across some magazines and newspapers.

**FASHION WEEK FUNDRAISER IN ROSEWOOD!**

**Saturday from 7 pm-12:30 am**

**Please RSVP as soon as possible at...**

Hanna walked over to the table and stared at the invitation.

"Guess next month is here," she said out loud to herself.

**~*MEANWHILE, SOMEWHERE AT AN UNKNOWN LOCATION*~**

'A' sat at his desk as he looked through the "Fashion Week Fundraiser" invitation.

With a smile, 'A' tucked the invitation back into the desk drawer and got up from his chair.


	11. Chapter 11

**~*LUCAS'S APARTMENT-FRIDAY, 2 PM, UPSTAIRS ROOM*~**

Hanna hung up a few outfits in front of the mirror, but none of them felt right. She was working in the fashion business for God's sake! Logically, she should have been able to do this, but her mind was a little occupied these days.

Luckily, she had Emily there to help her out.

"I think the dark red one is a good one," Emily told her as she lay on the couch.

"Really? It feels a little too much for just a fundraiser."

"Didn't that lady say there would be some sort of party when it was over?"

Hanna snapped her finger and pointed in Emily's direction.

"Right. Forgot about that."

She grabbed the red dress and hurried into the bathroom. Not that she had a problem dressing in front of Emily, but she wanted to see how the dress looked on her first before she showed Emily.

As Hanna slipped out of the robe she was wearing, she let her mind wander.

_"Should I ask Gabe to come with me to this? Would he even be interested?”_

She grabbed the dress and pulled it up from around her knees.

_"I mean everyone thinks we have something going on, but do we really? I mean he's..."_

She put the last strap over her shoulder and turned around to look into the mirror.

_"...a cop."_

Hanna finished those last thoughts with a worried look into the mirror.

"Hanna?"

Emily's voice brought Hanna back to the moment.

"Yeah, Em?"

"How does it look? Don't keep me waiting!"

Hanna laughed and headed out the door. Emily fake gasped and smiled as Hanna did a little twirl for her.

"Well?"

Emily grinned.

"It's perfect."

"Ha ha, thank you, Em. Guess I'll just settle for this one then."

"Hmm. Well, you're just like Cinderella...only without a prince."

Hanna suddenly felt tense all over. She crossed her arms.

"Em... What do you think about me and Holbrook?"

"Oh...well, he's nice I guess."

"No, I mean…What do you think about me and him...together?"  


Emily looked off to the side in confusion, and then back at Hanna.

"Ha! Oh, you're serious!" She said when she noticed the look on Hanna's face.

"Well, it doesn't really matter what I think, Han. I mean if you love him then-"

"Wait a minute Em! I-I-I..." Hanna threw her arm around her shoulder in a protective self-embrace.

"I never said anything about 'love.' I mean like I said in high school, he's a bad kisser...and he's a total book nerd, I mean he's read every single Arthur Conan Doyle book ever. And he's a cop. Does that really sound like the kind of person I would fall for?"

"Hanna!" Emily propped herself up and swung her legs around so she could sit properly on the couch. She patted the seat next to her so Hanna could sit down.

She did.

"Why do I get the feeling that him being a cop is what concerns you the most?"

"What do you mean?"

"Wilden? And your mom? Hanna, don't tell me you think that just because you like him means your relationship is anything like theirs."

"Okay, I know it's not, but still. I can't help it."

"Look, to be honest, I never really understood the... _connection_ that you guys have. Even back in high school when you told us he was a bad kisser. But it's no good for you if you keep on denying how you feel about him."

"But, I don't know how I feel. I'm not even sure if I should be feeling something for him. I mean if we got together then everything would...everything would..."

"Everything would change?"

Hanna looked at her puzzled.

"How did you know I was going to say that?"

"Do you remember when I was so scared of dating Maya? You told me that if we started dating then I 'wouldn't have to pretend to be somebody’ I'm not. Well, now I'm telling you."

Hanna swallowed nervously.

"Well, um...thank you for that. I'll take that under consideration."

**~*EZRA'S COFFEE SHOP/BOOK STORE - TWO HOURS LATER*~**

"Hanna?"

Hanna looked up from where she was sitting and saw Gabe standing in front of her.

"Gabe, hey."

"Hey. Are you okay?"

"I guess. Why?"

"You just looked far away there for a second."

"Oh! Well, I'm just...Just gathering all of my courage. I'm actually glad I ran into you."

"Oh really?" He crossed his arms and grinned at her.

Hanna hated it when he did that (but she secretly loved it too).

"So they're having this fashion fundraiser thing here in Rosewood tomorrow, and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me. You could be my plus one."

He was still grinning.

"Oh! So is this like a date or something?"

"Not exactly. It's a...it's a 'trial date.'"

"A 'trial date' huh?"

"Hey you know what, if you're not interested then a simple 'no' would be fin-"

"No, it's okay! Sure. Sure, I'll go with you on our...'trial date,'" he said with finger quotes.

"Great!"

"So um..." Gabe pointed his thumb in the opposite direction.

"I should probably go pick something out by tomorrow. Uh, will a normal suit work for this?"

"Yeah, it's formal, but nothing too fancy."

"Good. See ya there."

"See ya."

As Hanna waved at Gabe one last time before he headed out the door, she suddenly grew very nervous.

_"Good God what did I get myself into?"_

**~*SATURDAY NIGHT - 7:45 PM, ROSEWOOD FASHION FUNDRAISER*~**

"Hey you made it!" Hanna said as Gabe walked over to greet her near the front entrance. He was wearing a dark suit with a white collared shirt underneath.

"Yeah I did. Don't drink the punch," he laughed as he hugged her.

He let go of her.

"Wow, you look even more amazing than usual."

"Thank you."

"So...what did I miss?"

"Well, the models just modeled the fashion line, and now they're just waiting for people to give out donations to that lovely young woman over there." Hanna pointed to a brunette woman in a ponytail wearing glasses who was sitting at a table with the label "DONATIONS" hanging over the side of it. She was sitting in the waiting room of the building.

"Damn. I can't believe I missed the runway. I was really looking forward to that..." Gabe said as he eyed a few models walking past them. He sighed dramatically as though this were a life altering event that he had just missed. Hanna grabbed his face to turn his gaze away from them.

"I think you'll live," she said coyly as she smiled at him.

"Hanna!"

Suddenly, they were interrupted by Lucas' voice calling out for her. He hurried over to them excitedly.

"Lucas! Oh my god. What are you doing here?" Hanna asked him.

"I'm helping them out with all the technical stuff. I know one of the guys in charge back there."

Lucas noticed Gabe standing there and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh! I know you! You were that cop from when I was in high school...what was your name...detective...HOBICK!"

"Holbrook."

"Oh right, sorry. My bad. Nice to meet you." Lucas took his hand out for Gabe to shake.

"Um yeah," Gabe took his hand and firmly shook it. "Great to meet you too."

Lucas smiled at the both of them and then he directed his attention to Hanna.

"Well, I need to go and help the guys out with something, but it was nice running into you guys!"

"You too," Hanna told him with a friendly smile.

**~*SATURDAY NIGHT - 11:15 PM, ROSEWOOD FASHION FUNDRAISER*~**

"Now that was a party!" Hanna exclaimed as they stumbled away from the party room into the waiting area.

"Yeah it was!" Gabe said as he struggled to catch his breath. He sat down in one of the chairs near the front door's entrance.

Suddenly, they heard the familiar beat of a tune that neither one of them had heard in YEARS.

"Uh-oh," Hanna said with mock worry.

"Looks like we dodged a bullet in there," Gabe said as he continued to catch his breath.

Hanna laughed and sat down next to him while "The Macarena" blared in the other room.

"So...How do you think our 'trial date' is going so far, Han?"

"Very tiring...but in a good way," she said as she giggled.

"And the fact that we accomplished all of this without a single drop of alcohol...that's pretty impressive," Gabe told her with a grin.

"Well I'd hate to forget a night like this."

"Yeah. Same here."

Gabe began to look at Hanna in such a strange way, she almost felt like she would break in half. His gaze turned soft and he straightened up in his chair.

_"What is he doing? Why is he looking at me like that all of a sudden?"_ Hanna thought to herself.

He gently put his hand on her face and stroked her cheek gently.

_"I need to tell him to stop."_

Hanna swallowed and suddenly lost all the feeling in her legs, arms, and everywhere else.

_"Come on stupid brain! Pull away! Pull away! You're not supposed to like him like that! You're not supposed to-"_

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by Gabe kissing her. She allowed herself to melt into the kiss and for a while Hanna imagined a life without ‘A’.

A life where she could finally find someone else to truly love besides Caleb. Someone who-

"BWHAHAHA!"

They immediately pulled away after being interrupted by a guy who ran out of the party room and straight out the front door. They watched him through the glass walls as he ran down the streets triumphantly and pumped his fist in the air. He tried to get a high five from one of the people passing by but they all ignored him.

Gabe turned away to look at Hanna.

"I told you there was something off about that punch bowl," he told her.

"Yeah, I thought you were just exaggerating," Hanna said as she took one last look at the drunk guy running down the street.

They locked eyes again and remembered what had just happened five seconds ago.

"So..."

"So..."

Hanna put her hands in her lap.

"So...you kissed me,” she said with her head down.

"Yeah, I guess I did," Gabe said with a nervous chuckle.

Hanna's phone started to ring.

"You dumped Olivia huh?" Gabe asked her as she reached into her purse to get her phone. She gave him a look as she took the phone out of her bag. When she looked at what was on it, her face fell.

"Hanna...? What is it? What's wrong?"

 

**CINDERELLY CINDERELLY**

**YOU WON'T MAKE IT TO MIDNIGHT**

**LEAVE THE "PRINCE" OR ELSE HE WON'T MAKE IT MUCH LONGER EITHER**

**YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES STARTING NOW**

**01:59**

 

Hanna held the phone close to her so that Gabe wouldn't see what was on it.

"Hanna?"

"I'm so sorry, Gabe...I have to go."

"Go? Why? Is it because of the kiss because-"

"No it's not." Hanna got up from her chair and he did the same.

"Look, I had such a great time with you tonight. But I really need to go. It's a...a friend thing..."

"Oh!” He looked a little disappointed at her having to leave so abruptly, but she knew he understood how important her friends were to her.

“Of course. Be safe,” he said with a gentle squeeze on her shoulder.

Hanna smiled at him and hurried out the door.

Gabe had a feeling that the person responsible for her early departure was that elusive 'A' that she had told him all about.

He was going to get to the bottom of this.

 

**~*SATURDAY NIGHT - 11:35 PM, LUCAS'S APARTMENT*~**

Hanna slammed the door as she made her way into the apartment. She threw her purse onto the table and stood there with her arms crossed, tears streaming down her face.

Her phone rang again.

She opened it up and checked out the message.

**GOOD GIRL**

**YOUR PRINCE GETS TO LIVE...FOR NOW.**

**SLEEP SOUNDLY TONIGHT HOMECOMING QUEEN**

**:)**

 

Hanna threw the phone across the room in anger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: I think I did okay with this chapter...Which is incredible given how uninspired I've been lately. I'm a little annoyed that they're bringing back Sydney (that girl who hung around Jenna in season five). I mean I don't have a problem with her, I'm just upset because it feels like they're bringing back EVERYONE except Gabe and I am 85% sure that the only reason they're not is because even the writers know that him coming back would be the final nail in the H&C coffin. Honestly, that sucks. It really does. I mean can't he at least apologize to Hanna? Even Jesse St James apologized to Rachel in season two of "Glee" and they STILL went with the F&R ship during that time. And Jon was just a once-a-season recurring character. But anyway, I hope you guys found this chapter somewhat interesting. Sorry if my 'A' is a little obvious but I'm in a rush to get this story finished.


	12. Chapter 12

**~*ONE WEEK LATER - SPENCER'S LIVING ROOM, 9 AM*~**

"Spence?" Hanna said from the table in the kitchen.

"Yeah?" Spencer turned around from the couch.

"Check this out."

Spencer got up to look at what Hanna had found on her computer.

"Whoa! Radley sure looked like a different place back then."

Hanna was on a website that was showing the history of Radley Sanitarium. It showed a picture of the facility looking more like a school than a mental institution. In front of the gates were a couple of employees standing with grim looks on their faces as several children stood in front of them, their expressions just as vague.

"It's certainly easy to forget all the horrors when you look at this picture," Hanna said softly. She clicked out of the webpage. She turned to Spencer who was standing while she continued to sit on the stool.

"Okay. Let's recap what we know so far. Mary Drake is Jessica Dilaurentis' twin. And according to..."

Hanna paused. She didn't want to say _his_ name.

"Well, based on what we know, it looks as though Rollins and Charlotte may have had something going on. Which means Rollins is probably the last person Ali needs to be with right now. God, why did they release her from that place? She was so safe in there."

"Emily won't let anything happen to her. And besides, she only got out yesterday."

Hanna breathed in deeply.

"God I hope you're right, Spence."

**~*THE NEXT DAY - ALI'S HOUSE, 10 AM *~**

"So how are you feeling?" Hanna asked Alison as she handed her a cup of coffee.

All the girls noticed that the light in her eyes had faded.

They called it, “The dollhouse look.”

"Terrible...confused...lost..." she managed to mumble out as she took a sip from her cup.

They were all sitting in the couches of her home. Ever since Charlotte's death, the girls all felt as though there was something much bigger in play there. Almost like an invisible force that was tying them down to Rosewood.

"Ali..." Spencer sighed and put her hands in her lap carefully. She glanced over at the others who nodded, and she pressed on.

"Ali, we want to ask you something. How...How well do you know your husband?"

Alison narrowed her eyes in confusion.

"I...know him pretty well Spence. Why do you ask?"

"Well, we just wanted to know because of your time at the hospital. Did Elliot ever visit you?"

"I think he did...but I hardly remember anything from my time in there."

The girls looked at each other nervously. This was going to be harder than they originally thought. Emily, who was sitting closest to Ali, turned to her and carefully took her hands in hers gently.

"Ali," she began softly, "We think your husband might be hurting you."

Alison's face fell even more. "Em, what are you talking about?"

"Holbrook...that detective that you were...involved with during our senior year...he told us that Rollins and Charlotte might have had some sort of weird connection going on," Hanna told her gravely.

"Holbrook? He's here?"

Hanna shook her head carefully. Ali's expression didn't change at the sound of hearing his name.

"Yes Ali, he's here. And against our better judgement, we're choosing to consider his input because Hanna trusts him," Aria cut in.

"Well...that is...interesting. But you guys are wrong about Elliot. What did Holbrook say about him and my sister exactly?"

"He has a theory," Hanna began carefully. "He thinks that they had something romantic going on way back."

Alison looked at the expression on all of the girls faces. She could tell that they were serious, but she didn't want to believe a single word of it.

"No. No, there has to be another explanation for it. I mean, I know that he and Charlotte were close, but that's only because she was his patient. And I think I would have known if there was something going on between him and my sister." Alison grabbed the armrest of the couch for support and got herself up.

"Now, if you guys don't mind...I'd like to get some rest."

**~*FIVE MINUTES LATER - IN HANNA'S CAR*~**

"Guys, we need to find evidence and prove to Ali that Rollins isn't who he says he is," Aria told them as she sat next to Hanna (who was trying to focus on the road ahead).

"Ali loves him...she's not gonna want to believe that he's capable of something like this," Spencer replied to her from behind.

"Which is why we're gonna follow Aria's advice and get that evidence," Hanna told everyone as she continued to look ahead of her.

"What did you have in mind, Han?" Emily asked from the back.

Hanna smiled.

"First stop, Radley."

**~*30 MINUTES LATER- RADLEY HOTEL ROOM*~**

"Hanna, are you sure it's okay for us to be in here?" Emily asked her as they all walked through the door of a vacant hotel room.

"Yeah, Em it's fine. I swiped the card off my mom's desk two minutes ago."

"Won't she notice that it's missing?"

"I thought we were here to save Ali's life, not worry about the rules."

Emily rolled her eyes as Hanna smiled. Aria and Spencer were feeling around for something in the walls until they found what they were looking for.

"Guys!" Aria called out to them. Hanna and Emily turned around.

"We found the way down to the basement. Come on!" Spencer gestured for them to come over.

**~*TEN MINUTES LATER-RADLEY BASEMENT*~**

"Okay guys, we need to find anything that could help connect Mary to Rollins, or Rollins to Charlotte. And we need to move fast before someone catches us down here."

The girls nodded in understanding as Spencer told them her game plan.

"Okay, good. Let's split up. Hanna's with me, Aria you go with Emily."

Emily and Aria walked off in another direction while Spencer stayed behind with Hanna.

"So should we go into that room with the tubs, or should we go into another room this time?" Hanna asked her.

"Let's go in this room," Spencer pointed to an unassuming door that was caked in dust and spider webs.

Hanna opened the door for both of them and they went inside, turning on their flashlights as they did so.

Hanna almost fainted at the smell of the room.

"Oh god! What is that?!"

Spencer kept her cool and pointed her flashlight in the corner of the room where they could see an old-fashioned fire place.

"Relax, Hanna. I’m sure we’ll get used to it."

"Oh, is that all?" She replied sarcastically.

They continued to walk through the room until they found what they were looking for: a file cabinet.

Hanna smiled, raced over to it, and crouched down.

"Jackpot! Now let's get these files out so we can show Ali that Rollins is a **–** " she stopped. The cabinet wouldn't open.

"Really?" Hanna asked the cabinet as if it would answer back. "Wait...I have an idea." She took a bobby pin from out of her hair.

"Um, Hanna...?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm getting these files out of here."

"That's not gonna work. That only works in movies and to very lucky people. Last time I checked, that wasn't us."

"Well we can at least try. There's no harm in trying."

Spencer crossed her arms as she stood watching Hanna. She heard tiny clicking noises as she began to glance all around the room, but then the clicking stopped.

"Hey, Spencer."

Spencer glanced back at her.

"Yeah?"

"You were right. We do need a key." Hanna held out her left hand which was holding a key.

"Where did you find that?"

"I was using the bobby pin when I noticed it right here on the floor. Who says we don't have luck on our side?" Hanna told her with a smile and a wink.

Spencer smiled back and crouched down next to her to watch her put the key in the lock.

Click.

It worked!

Hanna nearly pulled the cabinet off its hinges with the force in which she pulled it out.

Spencer thumbed through the files until they found what they were looking for. It was in the back of all the files, tucked away like an afterthought.

**DRAKE, MARY.**

Hanna combed through the files some more until she found another familiar name.

**ROLLINS, ELLIOT.**

Hanna and Spencer smiled at each other.

They were going to make Rollins and Mary pay for everything.

 


	13. Chapter 13

**~*THE NEXT DAY - SPENCER'S LIVING ROOM 10 AM*~**

Aria sat on the couch with Emily while Spencer and Hanna were busy preparing salads in the kitchen.

"Mary Drake is Charlotte's biological mom. She gave Charlotte to Ali's mom because at the time she wasn't stable enough," Spencer told them seriously as she began chopping some tomatoes.

"What else did you guys find out?" Aria asked her.

"Well, we also found out that Rollins lived in London from the time of his birth right up until the age of eleven," Hanna replied. She walked over to the sink and began washing the lettuce.

"What? Are you serious? How'd he end up here?"

Hanna finished shaking off the water and set the salad down on the kitchen counter.

"We don't know, there were some sections blacked out of his file. The only thing we know for sure is that he was a Radley patient when he was just twelve years old. He stayed there for six months, and then they released him. He was never put into another place again."

After answering Aria's questions, Hanna opened the refrigerator door to grab a bottle of dressing.

"Did they give him any pills?" Emily asked Spencer.

"Yeah, we think so," Spencer said calmly.

"But if Rollins has mental health issues, that doesn't explain why he and Mary have decided to taunt us. I mean why us?"

Emily furrowed her brows with worry.

"Maybe he thinks we're guilty by association. He couldn't get to Ali, so he settled on the next best thing. Us." After replying to Emily’s question, Spencer began tossing the salad with all of the ingredients. Meanwhile, Hanna walked over to where Emily and Aria where and crashed in between them on the couch.

"Look guys. If Holbrook's right about him and Charlotte having a relationship...then Rollins must have been the one sending us those texts. He wants revenge for Charlotte's death because he thinks one of us killed her."

"But...none of us did, Han," Aria told her.

Emily swallowed nervously before speaking.

"I mean...that is the truth right?" She asked them.

None of the girls knew what to say after that as Spencer tossed the salad in silence.

**~*TWO HOURS LATER - ROSEWOOD PARK*~**

There he was. Just sitting out in the open for anyone to see. Hanna noticed that he was also wearing a purple cap on his head as he scribbled something in his tiny notebook.

_"Now or never,"_ Hanna thought as she made her way over to him.

"Hey."

He looked up, the expression on his face a mixture of amusement and excitement upon seeing her again.

"Oh, hey! For a second I thought you dropped off the face of the Earth."

"No, I'm still here. Ali still needs us here so."

"Yeah, I'm sure she does. I uh...I heard she got out of that place."

"Yeah, she did."

Gabe's expression turned serious and he put his notebook into his jacket pocket.

Hanna could feel her heart beating faster at the prospect of not knowing what was going to happen next.

_"Oh god. He's gonna ask me about our kiss isn't he? What do I say? What do I do? Is he going to ask me out now? What if 'A' tries to sabotage our relationship even more and-"_

"Look Han...I need to tell you something. I called one of my friends. He's a P.I. and he lives in Manhattan. He was able to dig up some...very interesting things about you-know-who. Here, come sit over here."

He moved to the end of the bench so that she could sit down.

"So he told me that Rollins used to go to a mental institution when he was a kid back in London, and shortly after he moved here, he started going to Radley and-"

"Yeah, I know. Spencer and I found an old file at Radley."

"Well, did you find out anything else?"

"Well we know he took some pills for his condition, but...there were sections of the file blacked out."

"Fortunately for you, my friend was able to pick this up."

He handed Hanna a small yellow envelope that was fairly light.

"What's this?"

"Open it and see."

When Hanna discovered what the contents were, her jaw dropped. They were pictures of Rollins and Charlotte, holding hands and being, well...very much like a couple in love. Although it was very clear that the photographs were taken directly from security footage in various places.

"Gabe...these photos...Where did your friend get them from?"

"He has his ways. And look there on the back...he wrote down the date they were taken."

Hanna turned over one of the photos. Gabe pointed at the corner which had a hastily written date scratched in blue ink.

"See that? August 14th, 2015."

"That means he and Charlotte were involved way before we came back here. Gabe...this could be the proof that we're looking for!"

Hanna could barely contain her excitement, but then her expression fell into disappointment.

Gabe noticed the change immediately.

"What is it?"

Hanna sighed.

"Just feels too easy," she told him quietly.

"So what do you want to do?"

Hanna looked at the photographs in her hands, and then back at him.

"I wanna go back to Tanner. Maybe these photos will finally convince her to start looking somewhere else instead of always accusing us of everything."

**~*ROSEWOOD POLICE STATION - 6 PM*~**

Hanna approached the main desk of the station where a man with glasses was typing something on a nearby computer. When he noticed Hanna, he stopped typing, but kept his hands hovered above the keyboard as though he wanted to be ready to type again.

"Yes? May I help you?"

"I would like to speak to detective Tanner please. I think I may have something-"

"Yes?"

Tanner showed up next to Hanna while the man put his hands back on the keyboard and resumed typing.

"Oh! Um…”

Hanna knew she had to start speaking fast.

“Look, I know you've always been suspicious of me and my friends, and I know we haven't exactly made things easier on ourselves but...all I'm asking is that you give us the benefit of the doubt. _Please_."

Tanner sighed, but Hanna already knew that she had managed to get through to her. She nodded at Hanna and began walking in the other direction toward a couple of vacant desks. When they arrived at one of them, she leaned against it while Hanna continued to stand.

"Very well. What do you want to talk to me about Ms. Marin?"

"I realize this is a long shot, but...Take a look at these photographs."

She took them out for Tanner to look at, and she was surprised with how quickly she snatched them from her hands.

"Where did you get these?" She asked her urgently.

"I...found it in Ali's basement. Rollins must have put them there after Charlotte died or something."

"I see."

She was calmer this time around. Hanna pointed her finger at the current photograph.

"You see that? It's Charlotte and Dr. Rollins."

"Hmm...It seems they were a couple."

"Yes they were. No one even knew about it."

"They certainly didn't. So what are you trying to say here Ms. Marin?"

"I'm saying...that my friends and I have had enough. We're done being tortured, and we're tired of lying to all of you. And if Rollins was involved with Charlotte, then surely that must give him some sort of a motive to harm us right?"

Tanner smiled, and for a moment Hanna was worried that she was going to call over a few of the officers on duty just to lock her up again. But then something incredible happened.

"Well well well, Ms. Marin. You're in luck. Because detective Furey just discovered that Rollins would hang out with Charlotte a little longer than he was supposed to during their sessions. So as shocking as it is...I actually believe your story. Give me the photographs and I'll take them into evidence."

"Really?! This isn't like a joke or anything right?"

"Believe me, I'm just as surprised as you. But in all fairness, we should have looked into the person closest to Charlotte first. It's always the one closest first."

"Thank you!"

Without thinking, she hugged Tanner out of happiness, but then she immediately let go.

"Oh, sorry."

_"Way to make this more awkward than it already is,"_ Hanna thought to herself.

"Well thank you very much for this. You can go now."

Tanner turned to leave, but Hanna stopped her.

"But wait..."

Tanner raised her eyebrow.

"Aren't you gonna call up your deputies or something? He's living in Ali's house, you can go and arrest him right now."

"We can't. Not yet. The photographs that you found and evidence that Furey picked up are a good start, but we need to figure out his motive first before we knock down his door."

She gathered up the photographs.

"Good day, Ms. Marin."

She kept walking until Hanna watched her disappear around the corner.

**~*GABE'S APARTMENT - 8:15 PM*~**

Knock knock!

Gabe got up from his chair to go and see who was at his door. When he opened it, he found Hanna...with a very big grin on her face.

"She believed me,” she told him breathlessly.

Gabe was amazed by this news. In fact, he could hardly believe it, so he asked her again.

"What?"

"Gabe...SHE BELIEVED ME!"

This time he knew that he was not hearing things. And with that, Gabe picked her up and spun her around in a twirling hug.

Hanna was still smiling as he gently put her back down, but their arms were still holding on to one another.

"Oh, this is such great news. But she told me that they don't have enough to get him arrested yet."

"She's right. The photographs may be real, but I’m willing to bet that she's painted Alison as another suspect in Charlotte's murder."

"Why? Did she say something?"

"No, I just know how her mind works. The murderer is usually someone the victim knew."

Hanna smiled and released her hold on him.

"God, I can't believe this. After all this time...this nightmare may finally be over."

"I wouldn't hold my breath just yet."

Hanna gave him a questioning look.

"Sorry, I'm a natural skeptic."

"Well…all in a good day's work for an amateur."

"Yeah. Good job."

"Thank you."

Hanna put her hands behind her back and continued to smile at him. But then Hanna realized that she had the perfect opportunity to tell him about... _that_ night.

She walked over to the wall behind the TV and leaned against it with her arms crossed.

"Hey...I need to talk to you about something."

Gabe walked closer to her and crossed his arms as well.

"The reason I walked out on you during our 'trial date' was because I got a text from someone telling me to. They threatened to kill you, and I couldn't let anything happen to you."

Gabe, who was clearly amused by A's games, merely smiled.

"I could have handled whatever this 'A' had in store for me,” he said with a hint of arrogance.

"No, Gabe, you don't understand. This person could be dangerous. This 'A' game...it changes people. It amplifies their behavior and turns them into something else. Mona tried to run me over with a car, and Charlotte killed Wilden. This new 'A', whether or not it is Rollins, is very dangerous. And I would never be able to live with myself if something happened to you."

His expression turned soft.

"I feel the same way,” he told her gently.

"I know you do...And to be honest, I sort of wish you had told me this five years ago. It would have made everything so much easier."

Hanna uncrossed her arms and put one of her hands behind her neck.

"What do you mean?" He asked her.

Hanna shrugged with the hand she had just used.

"Well, maybe if you had turned around and apologized...then maybe our lives could have gone…differently."

Gabe had to smile at that too. Not out of amusement, but out of appreciation.

"Hanna, you were in high school. It wouldn't have been right at that time."

"I know. I know. I just...As my friend, I wish you would have come back sooner. Definitely would have saved me the heartache…”

**~*FLASHBACK FIVE YEARS AGO*~**

Hanna's hand was still shaking, so she put her hand on the wheel in order to steady it.

She looked in the rear-view mirror to check for what she thought was Gabe's inevitable return.

_"He's not here yet...but he'll be here soon. He wouldn't just let me leave without apologizing...Right?"_

She started to imagine all the different ways he would apologize. Would he grovel? Would he start the conversation with a joke? Or would he just be straightforward about it?

Hanna pondered the possible scenarios for the next few minutes.

But the more she glanced back and forth between the rear-view mirror and the view in front of her, the more she realized Gabe wasn't coming back to apologize.

He wasn't coming back at all.

She almost let a tear fall. After all that hope of actually believing that he was good, and now this.

_"Don't you dare cry!"_ she thought to herself.

_"He's not worth it. You're just gonna have to forget about him completely. He was never your friend...He was just a grown man who's a cop. Nothing more..."_

"Nothing more" she said aloud to herself with finality.

**~*END OF FLASHBACK*~**

"And you never came back so..." Hanna shrugged with both arms this time. "I guess I just sort of assumed that you had suddenly turned into a jerk and that our friendship had meant nothing to you."

Gabe swallowed as if he was trying to stop himself from saying anything. Hanna noticed this and eyed him suspiciously.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's nothing."

_"Gabe."_

"Look, it's getting late and I'm sure your friends are wondering where you are-"

"They're not. I told them I would see them in the morning."

"Well either way it's late, so you should go."

"No, I'm not leaving. Not until you tell me what's bothering you."

"I'm not sure I should…”

Hanna laughed lightly and walked closer to him. She gently put her hand on his arm.

"You can tell me."

His lip quivered for a split second, but he eventually gave in.

"...I was gonna come back,” he said weakly.

Hanna’s heart fell into her stomach.

"Wha-What?"

She took her arm away and moved a few steps backwards. Gabe put his hands into his jean pockets nervously.

"I was gonna come back. Shortly after you hit me with the tire iron, I realized what a huge mistake I made. I was literally about to get in my car and follow you...tell you everything about me and Alison and Melissa... but then...my phone rang. The car was overdue, and if I didn't return it within the hour, they would extend my suspension sentence. After I returned the car, they sent me on my way, and I returned to my family. My dad got sick for a couple of weeks, so I had to stay with them. I went to Ali's press conference hoping to hear some news about whether you'd been found. I just felt so guilty about what happened, and I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. After Charlotte was outed, Melissa and I had stopped our plan, but I still wanted to know if you were okay. But then more issues came up with my dad, and I had to be there for my brother too, and before I knew it...Two years had gone by. There's no way someone like you would have stuck around Rosewood, so I never bothered to come back. And besides, even if my family was fine, I don't think I would have gone back to Rosewood after that anyway."

She was on the verge of tears at this point, but she managed to hold them in.

"Why?" She asked him quietly.

"Honestly? I was afraid. I just assumed that you hated me and would never speak to me again. If someone did to me what I did to you I probably wouldn't either…At least not right away."

"So you never came back because you thought I'd hate you?"

Hanna laughed nervously.

"Gabe look at us. You came back to Rosewood around the same time I did. Yes, you're an idiot for listening to Melissa, but...I still found a way to forgive you. You wanna know why? _Because I care about you_. More than I can possibly say, which is very scary for someone like me."

Suddenly feeling an ounce of bravery, she walked closer to him and put her hand on his cheek.

"And as far as hate goes...it's the last thing I ever want to feel for you... _especially now_."

She locked eyes with him. This was the moment she had been waiting for all week. No more interruptions. No more fear.

She put her other hand on his other cheek, and kissed him gently.

When it was over, she pulled away quietly, looking into his eyes for any sign of approval, but all he could do was look at her strangely. Hanna almost felt the pangs of disappointment at the notion of putting her heart on her sleeve like that again, but then he surprised her by pulling her close and kissing her again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I'm not comfortable writing graphic sex scenes, so you're gonna have to use your imaginations, lol. Although I strongly believe (well, 85%) that S&A have the chemistry to pull off a scene like that on PLL...*sighs* such a shame. Watching UST waste away like that. By the way, 8:15 is a nod to 5x18.  
> :D


	14. Chapter 14

**~*THE NEXT DAY, GABE'S APARTMENT - 8:47 AM*~**

The morning light nearly stabbed Hanna in the eye. She felt disoriented, and for a moment, she forgot where she was. But then it all came crashing back to her in one giant blur.

Her and Gabe in his apartment talking about their fight from five years ago. Their second real kiss, their first...

Hanna looked under the sheets.

Yup, she was naked.

She could feel herself blushing already. She turned over and saw Gabe sleeping peacefully on the other side of the bed. She reached out her hand to touch his face gently, but then she stopped herself.

_"Don't do it, Hanna. You don't need this in your life with 'A' running around,"_ she thought sadly to herself.

Just then, she noticed that her cellphone was on the floor, and she had nearly a dozen text messages. She picked up her phone and looked at the first one which was from Spencer...

**S.O.S. PROOF THAT ROLLINS IS NO GOOD I REPEAT WE HAVE PROOF!**

Hanna looked at the message, and then back at Gabe who was still out like a light. She swallowed.

_"I'll just write him a note,"_ she thought.

**~*THE RADLEY - THIRTY MINUTES LATER*~**

Hanna spotted the girls standing near the elevators, exactly where Spencer told her to meet them.

As she approached them, she began to talk.

"Okay, before you say anything...Did you tell Ali anything about her soon-to-be-ex-husband?"

"Not yet, but we need to keep this between us. We need to verify this before we can convince her," said Spencer.

"Yeah, so don't go blabbing this to Holbrook, Hanna," Aria told her briskly with her hands on her hips.

"I wasn't. I think we're gonna have to eventually though."

Aria opened her mouth to protest, but Hanna put up her hand to stop her.

"But in the meantime, I realize that this is sensitive information, so I'll hold off on telling him...for now."

Aria sighed happily with a grin.

"Good. Now let me tell you what happened to me. It was last night...I had just come back from Ezra's because he wanted to talk about his book for the hundredth time, and as I was walking down one of the alleyways, someone came up from behind me and started strangling me. Afterwards, I blacked out, but when I woke up there was no one there."

Hanna's eyes opened in shock and she squeezed Aria's shoulder.

"God, Aria. Well, are you okay now?" She asked with concern.

Aria titled her head at her.

"Of course not," she said coolly.

"But how do you even know that this person was Rollins at all? You said you never saw them."

"I didn't. They left this in my pocket."

Aria reached into her purse and took out a crumbled up piece of paper. She flattened it and held it out for all of the girls to read.

It was a ransom note with letters cut and pasted from a newspaper:

**THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING**

**BRING ME CHARLOTTE'S KILLER AT THE PARK AT 4:30 PM**

**THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW**

**OR ELSE I WON'T BE SO GENTLE**

**P.S. NO COPS**

"Now that you and Emily have seen the note, I think now's a good time for us to eat a late breakfast," Spencer told them.

**~*FIVE MINUTES LATER*~**

The girls all sat around a table trying to eat some form of a healthy breakfast, but it was incredibly hard to do so.

"So we get Charlotte's killer and beg Rollins to spare us," Aria suggested as she stuck a strawberry into her mouth.

"We can't do that Aria! No matter who it is, we can't let anyone else get hurt just because we're scared," Spencer told her.

"Then what are we supposed to do Spence? Rollins wants the killer now, and unless we find out who it is soon, he's gonna start going after us one by one next. And Ali's a sitting duck in her house all by herself."

After hearing Alison's name the other girls let out a collective gasp.

"Ali! Oh my god you guys. Alison!" Spencer said worriedly.

"Ali doesn't want to believe us Spencer. You heard her the other day," Hanna told her calmly.

"I know, but we have to do something. And it might not just be our lives in danger either. Rollins might go after someone each of us cares about just to retaliate."

"What do you mean?" Emily asked her.

"Besides us...family...friends...loved ones..."

Hanna nearly choked on her juice after she heard that.

"Look, we only have about thirty hours right? So we have at least one day to put Rollins behind bars and put an end to this 'A' game once and for all." Spencer said calmly.

"Because two times wasn't enough?" Hanna barked at her.

Spencer pursed her lips and took a bite from her toast.

"So what's the plan, Spence?" Emily asked her.

"Surveillance. Each of us will stay in one place and wait for Rollins to show up. Hanna, you can stay here, Aria, you go to Ezra's shop, Emily, you can go near Welby, and I'll be waiting around Ali's home."

"Is that really the best plan, Spence?"

Hanna was a little skeptical of the plan. Not because she didn't think it would work, but because it seemed a little...too simple.

"Yes, Hanna it is. I'll give us four hours. If we don't see Rollins anywhere by then, then we will go to the police...tell them everything and show them the note. Maybe they'll be able to figure out who killed Charlotte before it's too late."

**~*FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER*~**

Hanna pretended to read so that the people all around her wouldn't suspect anything. And she probably would have read the book...if it wasn't titled _Understanding HTML Code For Beginners, 3rd Edition_. Someone had left it on the chair of the bar near the front.

She was quietly observing the area, putting her eyes on the page every couple of minutes so she wouldn't look suspicious. She wanted to appear like she was casually leaning against a wall, reading a book. Perhaps giving off the impression that she was waiting for a friend...or possibly something more.

"Hello, Hanna." Gabe's voice called out from behind her. She turned her head around and saw him leaning against the wall with a grin on his face.

"Oh...Hey," she said nervously with a quick smile.

"How's your day been?"

"Okay. I'm just busy with...stuff right now. H-How are you?"

She turned away and continued to pretend reading.

"I'm doing great actually."

He put his arm around her and began to lead them into a walk. Hanna rolled her eyes as she let him lead her away from the wall.

"See, I spent the night with someone very important to me, and this morning she just got up and left! Can you believe that?"

He stopped and narrowed his eyes at her.

"You haven't seen her by the way have you?"

Hanna sighed disgustedly and pulled his arm away.

"Hanna!"

Gabe held his arms out as she began to walk away from him. Realizing his mistake, he immediately dropped the joker act.

"Hanna, come on, I was...I was just kidding. I saw your note. I'm not angry at that, believe me."

Hanna stopped and turned around.

"Yeah I know. I just...I'm not really sure what to say after last night, really."

"You think it was a mistake?" He said with a disappointed look.

"No! Of course not. I'm just...look, I just have a lot on my plate right now, and now _is not_ the right time to talk about this."

"Oh."

"But we will talk!"

"Of course!"

"Just later."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say is fine with me."

"Good."

He noticed the book in her hands and pointed at it.

"What’s the deal with that?"

"Oh! Well, I'm...I'm kind of...on a stake-out."

"Out here?" Gabe looked around. "Where everyone can see you?"

"Like you can talk."

"Oh, I'm sorry little miss I-skip-to-the-end-of-every-book."

"Okay first of all, I'm not the only one who does that, and second of all...shut up."

Gabe sighed and walked closer to her.

"Hanna..."

"I'm..." She lowered her voice. "I'm keeping an eye out for someone. Rollins. We think he may have tried to strangle Aria last night, and we're all at different places so we can spot him."

"What, you wanna detain him or something?"

"Yeah. That's the idea."

"Well then you don't need this."

He ripped the book out of Hanna's hands and put it down on a nearby table.

"Gabe, I need to appear casual."

"You don't have any real cop experience. _I do_. Just watch and learn. Follow me."

Hanna followed Gabe to the sofa cushions in the middle of the room. Gabe sat down and put his hand on the seat next to him, telling Hanna that she needed to sit down.

Once she sat down, he didn't do anything.

"Okay, so what do we do now?" She asked him.

"Sit."

"And...?"

"That's it."

"This is your brilliant plan?"

"Yes. Look, the entrance is right here in front of us," He acknowledged the direction with an open hand. "We can see whoever is coming and going right from here, and you don't even have to pretend you're reading a book either."

Hanna wasn't sure what to do now. Should she keep doing what she was doing? Or should she give his methods a try?

"Okay, you know what? I'm only trying it for an hour, and if it doesn't work, I'm going back to what I was doing. Deal?"

Gabe sunk into the seat.

"I'd expect nothing less from you," he said calmly.

**~*FORTY MINUTES LATER*~**

"So is this what you and Tanner used to do all the time?"

"Well we'd usually look from one of our cars, but yeah. This was basically how we used to do it."

"And how often did you actually look at your partner when you were doing this?"

Gabe turned to look at her and smiled. They'd hardly even looked at each other once they started.

"Occasionally. Just to verify that my neck was still working."

Hanna let out a small laugh and turned her body so that it was facing his. Or at the very least, facing his hip. She crossed one of her legs.

"That was a terrible joke."

"And yet you still laughed."

"Well either way, I'm betting this sofa cushion is way comfier than your police car."

"Oh, it is. Trust me."

As Hanna gazed into his eyes that warm feeling she had felt when he apologized to her in the hospital came flooding through her again. She almost wanted to kiss him again, but then she was interrupted by his expression turning serious.

"Hanna...Is that-"

Hanna turned her head.

It was Rollins!

"Rollins! He's right there and...Oh. It's not him. It's just the lighting. Ugh."

Hanna dropped her face onto a nearby pillow.

"You're growing impatient," Gabe told her.

She looked up.

"This is getting us nowhere. My method was clearly working."

"Yeah, I could see that with the eyes on your forehead."

Hanna tossed the pillow away.

"If you're gonna waste my time, you can just go. Everyone's counting on me. And I don't need you here distracting me."

"I wanna help you, Hanna."

"You really want to help?"

He shook his head.

"Go to the Rosewood P.D. You can save a spot for us."

He laughed.

"That's not exactly how it works...and why do you want me to do that?"

"Because if our collective stake outs don't work, we've all agreed to bring the police in and let them help us."

Gabe shook his head indicating that he understood everything.

"Okay. I'll 'save a seat' for you,” he said with finger air quotes. "And I'll tell detective Furey more about your concerns too."

"Thank you."

**~*THREE HOURS AND TEN MINUTES LATER*~**

Spencer came through the front and went straight for Hanna.

"Spencer? How'd it go at Ali's?" Hanna asked her from the couch.

"Nothing happened. Which isn't surprising. He probably expected that we would be looking for him there."

She continued to stand.

"Did you hear back from Emily or Aria?" She asked Hanna.

"Emily said there was nothing. I haven't heard from Aria yet."

"Well she just called me. She didn't see anything either."

"So that means..."

Hanna slowly got up from the couch.

"We have to do what we hate most in the world."

Spencer nodded, knowing what her next words would be.

"We have to get help from the professionals," Spencer said with a light laugh.

**~*ROSEWOOD POLICE STATION-THIRTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER*~**

The girls were sitting in Tanner's office waiting for detective Furey to come in and start talking with them.

"This is giving me some serious deja vu vibes," Hanna said while she sat next to Spencer.

"All of us, Hanna," Spencer remarked.

Just then, Marco and Tanner both walked in.

Tanner stayed near the door while Marco walked over to the table and placed both hands on the table.

"So we studied that note. If Rollins really is our guy, then this would be the perfect opportunity to detain him."

"How are we supposed to do that without endangering ourselves? He clearly has it set in his mind that one of us killed his girlfriend," Emily told him.

"That's where we come in. We'll go with you and make sure we catch him this time."

"But he said no cops. He will see you guys coming from a mile away," Aria said worriedly.

Tanner stepped away from the doorway and approached the table.

"We know that. Which is why we want to ask you girls if you're willing to be our bait," she said calmly.

"That's insane! Not to mention completely dangerous," Spencer told her.

"We'll be with you every step of the way. You'll have an ear piece on, which we will be picking up from a van a mile away. As soon as you say the secret word, we will drive over there and get him."

"And if he's carrying a weapon...?" Hanna asked her angrily.

"Well like I said, it's your choice to make," Tanner said with her voice still calm.

The girls looked at one another nervously.

"Fine. I'll do it." Emily called out.

"Emily!" Hanna yelled.

"I have the least to lose out of all of us."

"No way!" Aria said.

Spencer reached over and grabbed Emily's hand.

"You're not doing this alone."

"Like hell you are. We're doing this together. All of us." Hanna said with determination.

Marco nodded at Tanner and took his hands off the table.

"We'll go set it up," he said almost as calmly as Tanner.

And with that, they headed out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: We’re almost done with my version of 7A! I’m going to take a break after this, and then I’ll start my own 7B. The only thing is…I might make it shorter than this part. Or maybe not, who knows. But we’ll see.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here it is! My 7A finale. Spoiler alert: Things get dramatically intense in this chapter, but of course everything's going to be fine...Or is it? ;)

**~*ONE DAY LATER- 9:34 AM, SPENCER'S LIVING ROOM*~**

The girls all sat on the couch as cops moved in and around the home. They were all there as a precautionary measure to make sure that they were safe from Rollins. Alison had her own personal protection squad that was parked right next door. The girls had already checked on her ten minutes ago, and now they were prepping themselves for the afternoon. Caleb and Spencer were sitting at the bar stool going over strategy plans while Toby was talking with the other girls about their "plan."

"Are you guys sure about this? Rollins is dangerous, and he might even be bold enough to bring a weapon to the park," Toby asked them carefully as he stood in front of them.

"We've got it all under control," Hanna said confidentially.

"Hopefully," Aria mumbled under her breath.

Spencer walked over to them with Caleb.

"Okay, guys. So we've decided to make the secret word, 'Mona Vanderwaal'. Once we say those two words, the police will swoop in and take down Rollins." Spencer told them all calmly.

"Once you guys have Rollins comfortable, all you have to do is say the magic word, and the team will hop into their vans and get to you. Here."

Caleb stuck out his hand and showed them four sets of ear pieces. The girls all took one for themselves, except for Spencer who shook her head at Caleb. He gave her a questioning look, to which Spencer sighed impatiently and snatched the ear piece out of his hand. He resumed talking to the other girls.

"So, before you get to the park, you're gonna have to put these in your ears. The ear pieces are hooked up to their van, and that is where Furey and Holbrook will be tracking your every movement. They also have surveillance, so they will be able to know if anything goes wrong. I would say 'good luck' but...it might be best for everyone if we just left that out."

**~*ROSEWOOD PARK - 4:24 PM*~**

The girls were all sitting on the same bench.

"Do you see him anywhere?" Aria asked out loud.

"No, Aria. Just keep reading that newspaper," Hanna replied next to her.

But Aria couldn't even pretend to read the newspaper. She handed it to Spencer who was sitting to the left of her.

"This is making me so nervous. Maybe we should have just let them handle it."

"Aria. _Breathe_. In and out. Breathe."

Hanna put her hand on Aria's shoulder and started breathing in and out slowly. Aria took her advice and began breathing in and out to calm her nerves.

"He's not gonna try anything in the middle of a bunch of witnesses," Hanna assured her.

"I hope so."

Spencer put down the newspaper that she actually was reading and turned toward her two friends.

"You know what they say about hope, it breeds **–** "

"Eternal misery. Got it Spence."

Spencer rolled her eyes at Hanna's response and resumed reading the newspaper.

**~*IN THE VAN*~**

"Even if you think he's not gonna do anything, you girls still need to be careful," Marc cautioned them over the head-set. He whipped himself around in his seat to find Gabe staring at the video monitors in front of them.

"How's it looking on the surveillance?"

Gabe studied the monitor for any signs of Rollins.

"All good. Nothing yet."

Gabe checked his watch.

"Two more minutes to go."

**~*BACK AT THE PARK*~**

"What if he doesn't show up?" Aria asked them all nervously.

"Why wouldn't he meet up with us?" Emily asked her.

"I don't know...time, inconvenience, change of heart? I can't sit here any longer waiting for **–** "

"That's okay Aria. I'm right here."

The sound of his natural accent caught them all completely off guard.

Rollins stood there with a smile on his face that was both cold and unnatural. He sat down in-between Aria and Hanna, calmly looking at the people in the area. They all walked by without a second thought.

Hanna and Aria squirmed uncomfortably in their seats.

"Oh, sorry. Am I bothering you two?"

He laughed.

"So who is it then? Is it you Hanna? Aria? Or perhaps it was all four of you working together."

Hanna swallowed nervously and looked him right in the eye, pretending not to be afraid.

She wanted to pull the conversation away from the identity of Charlotte's killer by asking Rollins a question she'd been wanting to know for ages.

"Why don't you answer a question for me _Elliot_...Did you kidnap me wearing that hideous Halloween mask with the wig attached?"

Rollins laughed at Hanna's question.

"No. No. That wasn't me. It was Mary. Someone I'm sure you've heard of already."

"Where is she?"

"Not my concern. Nor yours either."

Spencer laughed.

"That's hilarious. And what about the messages? A.D.? Really? What are you twelve? What was up with all of the emojis?"

Rollins turned in Spencer’s direction.

"That one was me, actually. I was hoping that Alison's initials combined with all of the emojis would be a bit more, well... humorous for me. Guess I was wrong."

Spencer glared at him.

Hanna looked away from him, and he laughed at her uncomfortableness.

"So now that I've answered your questions, maybe you can finally answer mine.”

“Which one of you killed Charlotte?" He asked menacingly.

"It wasn't any of us," Spencer answered as calmly as she could.

"How disappointing for me." He said dryly. He smiled coldly and looked among them as if he were deciding who to attack first. Hanna immediately sensed this and took matters into her own hands.

"Hold on a second. We said it wasn't one of us. We never said we didn't know _who_ it was," Hanna told him.

His eyebrows shot up in genuine surprise.

"Then who is it?"

Hanna looked at the other girls who shook their heads carefully.

"Just a little someone I used to know way back when. Someone named...Mona Vanderwaal."

**~*BACK IN THE VAN*~**

"Hanna just said, ‘Mona’. It's time to move in." Marc told Gabe, who was still sitting at the monitors trying to keep track of everything that was going on.

"Okay, I'll head that team in the other van and you'll **–** "

" _Oh no no no!_ This is _my_ department remember? You just stay here and mind the fort. Let me know if you see anything... _strange_."

With a smile, Marc slapped Gabe's back and jumped out of the van.

**~*BACK AT THE PARK*~**

Rollins had eyed Hanna for a good minute or two before responding to Hanna's suspect.

"Mona Vanderwaal, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Alison once told me that you two were best friends."

"Well, we drifted apart. To be honest, we all did, but... It's much _much_ better for her to go down for this then all of us, believe me."

Rollins frowned as if he wasn't buying her story, but then he smiled once again.

"Very well. Take me to her."

Hanna's heart dropped. Mona had left for work shortly after Hanna was rescued, and she didn't want to bother her. Not that she ever would offer her up as bait to Rollins. But what would he say if he knew that they had never actually brought Charlotte's "killer" with them to the park?

"What?" Hanna asked him. Now she was scared all over again.

"You heard me. Take me to her." He said coldly.

"But-but...we-we can't do that because..."

Hanna looked to Spencer for help.

"Because she's out of town," Spencer finished for her.

"Did I not specifically ask you to bring me Charlotte's killer?" He asked them through gritted teeth.

"We gave you a name! Is that not good enough?" Emily yelled at him with more bravery than probably all of them combined.

"Actually no!"

Rollins got up and pulled Aria off the seat and grabbed the front of her neck with one of his hands. It wasn't hard to guess what he was planning to do if he didn't get what he wanted.

"I _wanted_ Charlotte's killer brought to me. And now you have all failed me." He told them all angrily.

"Just please let her go!" Spencer yelled at him.

"No. No, what you girls need is _motivation_ , and I'm here to give it to you. I want Charlotte's killer brought here on the count of three. One...Two...Thr **–** "

Hanna lunged at him, taking him by surprise, and tackling both of them to the floor. Taking advantage of the distraction, Aria jumped away and moved back on the bench.

Meanwhile, Hanna was struggling to keep Rollins pinned down on the floor, which was very hard given how much stronger he was then her.

"You girls are always so arrogant."

He took out a knife from his jacket pocket with his free hand, and held it out for them to see. Then he rolled over and pinned Hanna down so that he was on top of her. His weight nearly glued her to the cement floor. Onlookers were starting to whisper worriedly, but no one was brave enough to go over there and stop it.

All they could do was stare.

Alarmed, Hanna tried to keep his knife away from stabbing her anywhere, but Rollins was too determined to cause at least some damage. He managed to scrape the side of her face, during which, the other girls completely snapped out of their shock and the adrenaline finally kicked in. Spencer jumped on his back. Aria and Emily tried to pull Hanna away from underneath him, but it was no use. He was just too strong.

"Get off me!" He yelled at Spencer. Once he managed to throw her off, he turned around to get a good look at each of the girls, smiled and said...

"You really should have brought the killer here."

And with that, he stabbed Hanna right in the abdomen.

He got off of her and started to walk away as they all crashed beside her.

He disappeared through the crowd of onlookers and was almost on his way out of the park...That is, until he felt someone tackle him and push him to the floor. He immediately felt the cold handcuffs being slipped onto his hands.

"You, Elliot Rollins are under the arrest for attempted murder. Anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one..."

**~*BACK IN THE VAN*~**

Gabe could hardly listen to Marc, Marco, or whatever the hell he was calling himself, read Rollins his rights anymore. He knew them by heart anyway. He was in so much shock at the sight of Hanna getting stabbed in the stomach that it had taken him almost a full minute to snap out of it and get out of the van.

If he ran fast enough he would make it in time.

**~*BACK AT THE PARK*~**

The girls all huddled around Hanna worriedly.

"Oh my god!" Emily cried.

Aria was silently crying as she kneeled besides Hanna's wound. It was bleeding out of control.

Spencer tore off a piece of her shirt, wrapped it up, and pressed it to Hanna's wound.

She looked up and saw a crowd of people standing all around the scene. She noticed that a younger girl in front of her had a smartphone in her hand.

"You!" She called out to the girl. The girl raised her eyebrows in response.

"Call 911," Spencer told her urgently.

The girl nodded and did what she was told.

Meanwhile, the rest of the onlookers could only stare as Spencer struggled to tend to the wound and Hanna struggled to fight the pain in her side...

 

**~*TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER IN THE PARK*~**

He could see them putting her into the ambulance just in time. Gabe ran over to her as fast as he could, but one of the police officers at the scene held him back.

"Hanna!"

"Sir, please stand back," the officer told him calmly.

"I just...I just need to see her."

"You can see her at the hospital," she said with an air of finality.

Gabe put his hands through his hair nervously.

This was going to be a long night.

 

**~*ONE HOUR LATER- ROSEWOOD HOSPITAL*~**

Gabe sat in the chair with his face in his hands. He wasn't sure whether he should start crying or praying, so he just let his mind wander. He had gotten a phone call from Tanner forty-five minutes ago telling him that Rollins was already being questioned by the police at the station. He had also heard a few other interesting tidbits from another officer who had called him just twenty minutes ago.

The double doors burst open, and Caleb stormed in with Toby trailing behind him. They headed straight for Spencer who was with the other girls on the other side of the waiting room.

"Spencer!" Caleb called out to her. Spencer immediately rose from her seat and ran over to hug him. When they pulled away, Caleb touched her face to make sure she was okay.

"I heard about Hanna, are you **–**?"

"I'm fine. We all are, Hanna...Hanna's the one who got attacked, not us."

"Where's her mom?"

Spencer turned around and pointed behind her.

"She's with the doctors right now."

She faced Caleb again, and she could see that he was just as scared as she was. She put her hand on his shoulder gently.

"Come on. Let's go grab coffees for everyone."

Caleb nodded at her and they left together.

 

**~*THREE HOURS LATER*~**

"This is all our fault," Emily cried as she stood against a wall with her arms crossed.

"Emily!" Aria yelled from her seat.

"We should have just let the police handle it. We should have never agreed to let them use us as bait."

"Em, look. What happened was Rollins fault, not ours. He's the one that stabbed Hanna, not us." Spencer told her from her seat.

Emily slid to the floor and didn't respond. All she could do was look torn up about it. Spencer sighed and walked over to her.

"You can't blame yourself for this. None of us can. She's gonna be okay, Em. You heard what her mom told us!"

Emily looked at her with tear-filled eyes.

"I know...and I know she's getting stitched up...I just...I just can't help thinking about how much worse it could have been. What if he had stabbed her in the heart? Or what if it had been deeper?"

Spencer smiled at her warmly.

"I know, Em. I know. Trust me, I was thinking about every worst case scenario when I was trying to stop the bleeding. Up to and even including what I would say at Hanna's funeral."

Emily laughed nervously at the last part. Spencer could see how hard it was for her, so she simply squeezed her hand.

"What do you think's going on in his mind over there?" Aria interrupted their moment, as she nodded in Gabe's direction. His hands were behind his head, and he was staring at his knees. He didn't even drink the coffee that Spencer and Caleb had brought everyone.

But then again, no one could bear to take more than a few sips either.

"I don't know. He hasn't said much since he got here. I think he's in shock," Emily replied to Aria.

Spencer got up and walked over to him.

She sat down next to him.

"Hi."

Gabe looked up from his knees, put his hands on the seat's armrest, and looked at her.

"Hi," he answered quietly.

"Hanna's getting stitches now. Her mom just told us."

"I know. I heard."

His voice was slowly starting to come back.

"Look, we all want her to get better. Believe me, we do."

"I know you do. And I do too I just...I guess I'm still in shock. I saw her get stabbed while I was in the van. It's not exactly something I want to keep in my memory."

"I know what you mean."

"When I saw her get stabbed...It was like my brain shut down. I couldn't move or do anything."

"I felt the same way for a couple of seconds. But I guess the adrenaline kicked in."

"Yeah, I heard you tore a piece of your shirt off to put pressure on the bleeding."

Spencer laughed. She took out her arm for both of them to see. Her blue and black stripped shirt had a piece of the sleeve torn off.

"Honestly, between all this waiting around, I actually forgot that I had done it."

"Well everyone here thanks you for it. Especially me. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't of tried to help her while the ambulance was on its way."

Spencer giggled and looked away sheepishly. Gabe looked puzzled by her laughter.

"What? What's so funny?"

"I'm just appreciating this moment that's all. I don't think any of us ever imagined that Hanna would end up with...a cop."

"Because of Wilden?"

"And Garret. They were both pretty terrible to us. Guess this is the universe's way of giving us hope after all."

Spencer smiled at him kindly, and he returned the look.

Shortly after that, he put his hands in his lap and cleared his throat.

"By the way...I know it's been a while but...I'm sorry for arresting you for Bethany Young's murder all those years ago."

"An apology! Wow! Are you sure you're a real cop? It's no wonder you left Rosewood for so long," Spencer told him amused.

Gabe turned away and laughed.

"So did they arrest Rollins?" Spencer asked him.

"Yeah, they're holding him right now. Once the trials are over, he’ll be going away for a long time."

"Thank god this nightmare is finally over."

Spencer leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes trying to savor the moment.

"Hey, did you know that Alison was there at the police station?" He asked her.

Spencer opened her eyes in surprise.

"She was? Oh god, I shouldn't have called Jason."

"Well it looks like it was for the best."

"Why?"

"Well you didn't hear this from me, but..." he lowered his voice to a whisper. “Rumor has it that one of the cops saw her slap Rollins across the face when he was in the waiting room."

"Ha! What? Are you serious?"

"You can ask her, but that's what he said."

Spencer laughed proudly.

"Oh wow. Good Ol' Ali. Good for her. Serves him right for what he put us through. I'm just glad it's finally over."

**~*THE NEXT DAY-HANNA'S ROOM AT ROSEWOOD HOSPITAL*~**

"We're just so glad you're gonna be okay,” Emily told Hanna as she gently squeezed her hand.

The other girls nodded in agreement.

"What about Rollins?" Hanna asked them.

"He's been arrested,” Aria replied.

"And Ali?"

"She's safe. Rumor has it she slapped Rollins across the face at the station,” Spencer told her.

Hanna laughed.

  
"She did?"

Hanna laughed even harder, but then she stopped herself.

"Oh, sorry, I probably shouldn't be laughing."

"Screw that. He deserves it after all he put us through,” Aria told her angrily.

"No, I just mean, I shouldn't be laughing. I'm afraid I might hemorrhage if I do it too much."

The other girls laughed. Even with an injury...same old Hanna.

"So when are you coming home?" Emily asked her.

Before Hanna could answer, a knock at the door interrupted their conversation.

"They told me I could go home in a few hours." Hanna replied to her.

She turned her head toward the door.

"COME IN!" She yelled in its direction.

The door swung open, and Gabe almost walked in, but when he saw the girls in there, he stopped himself.

"Oh sorry! I thought you guys were done."

"It's fine. Just give us ten minutes okay?" Hanna told him softly with a smile.

He nodded and closed the door. Hanna turned back to the girls.

"So what else? Did they ever find Mary Drake?"

"No. Rollins was right. She just disappeared,” Spencer told her, disappointed.

"Did he ever say what they were doing together?"

"Nope. He completely dodged the entire subject."

Hanna leaned against her pillow.

“I guess we’ll never know…” She said quietly.

**~*TWELVE MINUTES LATER*~**

Gabe had been sitting silently on Hanna's bed for the past two minutes.

"This sure feels familiar,” she said softly.

"Yeah it does."

He looked at her as if he expected her to faint, or worse.

"Are you okay? You keep looking at me like I'm a ghost or something,” she asked him with worry in her voice.

"I'm fine. It's just that...when I saw you get stabbed by Rollins...my head was spinning. My entire body went into shock."

"I'm so sorry."

"No, don't think like that. It's not your fault. I just mean it was really hard for me to see. And it also...made me realize something."

"What?"

He hesitated. He knew that the next words to come out of his mouth would change everything for them forever.

There would be no going back after this.

"I...I love you, Hanna."

Hanna gasped quietly at his confession. Gabe merely shook his head.

"And I know how that must sound since we literally hopped into bed only a few days ago, but I fell for you way before that. Hell, maybe even before then."

She smiled softly.

"When?"

"It was when I saved you from your kidnapper. Mary Drake was it? Spencer told me. The moment I saw you again, I could feel myself falling for you all over again."

Hanna laughed quietly, and put her hand on her mouth. She could barely stop the smile that was underneath her hand.

Gabe turned away from her awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be telling you this right now."

"No, it's okay! You can tell me because I..."

Hanna could feel the fear overwhelming her, but she refused to let it take control of her. Not after everything she'd been through.

The past was behind her. Caleb and Jordan were both her past, but this was now.

This was her future.

She inhaled deeply and breathed out slowly.

"Because I think I'm in love with you."

He narrowed his eyes.

"You think?"

Hanna swallowed. This was no time to dance around the subject. She either loved him or she didn't.

She sat up straighter in her bed.

“ _I know_. Except…I think my feelings for you started way before I ever saw you again."

"Really When?"

"The day you helped Travis’ dad in the courtroom... When you saw me at The Brew…I don’t know, something just came over me. But Caleb had just broken up with me and ironically, I only managed to snap out of it once I had kissed you. Or tried to kiss you. It was only then that I remembered you weren't actually my boyfriend. But for one split-second, I actually tricked myself into believing that you were..."

There was a look of amusement on his face that was pretty confusing to decode. Hanna shook her head quickly.

"I know it sounds weird, but **–** "

"No. Believe me. It doesn't sound weird. To be honest...that kiss was pretty important to me too."

He smiled at her.

“I’m glad you’re back in my life again,” she told him softly with a small smile.

He leaned over and surprised her with a quick kiss.

“Me too,” he said calmly with a smirk.

Their kisses still made her blush like crazy, but she didn’t really mind.

He put his hand on her chin and stroked it gently. Afterwards, he moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her in a warm and loving hug.

Hanna lost herself in Gabe’s embrace, and she closed her eyes as the feeling of contentment surrounded her...

**~*ONE YEAR LATER-HANNA AND GABE'S APARTMENT IN NEW YORK*~**

Hanna awoke suddenly and heard a strange tapping noise on the window. Gabe was completely knocked out beside her and she didn't want to wake him.

She carefully slipped out of the bed and walked over to the window.

There was nothing but the sounds and sights of cars driving by and people taking very late night strolls. She was about to turn around and go back to bed when **–**

THUD!

A bird had shown up in the window, and was squawking in her face, scaring the literal hell out of her.

"Oh! Stupid bird! Go away." Hanna whispered to the bird as she waved it away with her hand. The bird took the hint and flew away.

It had been a year since the incident with Rollins and although they had stopped getting A.D. messages, Hanna couldn't help feeling as if something was _very_ wrong...

Or perhaps it was because of the message she had gotten earlier on her phone...

**MISS ME?**

**SEE YA AT THE WEDDING**

**\- A**

.............................................................................................................................................

END OF PART ONE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Spencer's black and blue stripped shirt is inspired by Tyler and Troian's snapchat from 7x10 when they're in the Hastings' kitchen. I've been picking up little things from the show's behind-the-scenes just to give me some reference ideas. So, my ship is finally canon (at least in fanfic form) and I managed to save Hanna from a dull and lifeless marriage that would surely divorce in less than a year. Sorry, but I never saw H&C as marriage material. I always thought Hanna looked weird after Caleb asked her in 6x09 if moving to New York was still her dream. It just felt as though she hadn't planned that kind of a future with him. They were just going through the motions, not really going anywhere or challenging each other. Plus, it never really felt like they wanted to marry each other despite dating each other for nearly five years. But of course, Hanna gets engaged to Jordan after dating him for less than two years. Honestly, I'm not surprised given that he's basically Gabe Holbrook 2.0 without any of his flaws, but hey... *insert pic of Kermit the frog sipping tea with the caption "but that's none of my business" here* STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO! And yes, it will be uploaded to the same story.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for the looooong delay guys. I was super busy uploading the story to ff.net because that place is a little easier to post things on. That, and there was a huge chunk of time when I felt massively uninspired. Fortunately, I managed to pick myself up and keep on writing. ;)

**~*TWO DAYS LATER - NEW YORK FASHION OFFICE, 3:30 PM*~**

"You love your job don't you?" Gabe asked Hanna playfully.

"Yes. Yes I do." She told him coyly.

"Well, maybe I can make a few modifications on this dress here---"

Gabe tried to add something to Hanna's sketches, but she snatched the sketchpad away from him.

"I'm trying to work here. Shouldn't you be off doing your job?"

"I should. Except it's pretty quiet today. Plus, I needed to give you one of these."

He held out a black paper that had fancy writing in gold on the front.

"Is that...?" She began to ask him.

"Hmm-hmm. It is. It says 'please watch as I marry my old high school teacher...oh whoops. You weren't supposed to know that.’” He made an “oops!” expression. “And then there's this whole thing about RSVP. But hey, you know what? We are going to have a great time together."

"You only want to go because of the food."

"And what's your excuse?"

"I'm one of the bridesmaids, Gabe. Not to mention, Aria's one of my best friends."

Gabe raised his eyebrows in amusement.

"And...?"

"Okay, fine! I'm going for the food too."

She stuck out her tongue at him and got up to retrieve a huge 3-ring binder from the cabinet in the corner. As she flipped through it, she walked over to the window while Gabe stood with his hands in his jacket pockets, his eyes watching her intently.

Bam!

Hanna jumped at the sound, which turned out to be a window cleaning team hovering outside the glass. The two people on the scaffolding --- a woman and a man --- both put their hands up in apology.

Hanna nodded and tried to smile, but she had trouble doing so convincingly.

She sat back down in her chair and began pouring through the binder trying to find the photograph that she needed.

Page after page of endless photos.

It was like looking at a family album.

Gabe cleared his throat.

She had completely forgotten that he was still there.

He turned the visitor's chair in front of her desk around and sat on it.

"Han...What was that?" he asked her softly.

She sighed and looked at him.

"Sorry, I'm just...feeling a little jumpy today."

She looked down again and resumed flipping through the binder.

"Why? 'A' is gone."

She looked at him again, and bit her lip before replying.

"I'm not so sure about that anymore."

She reached across her desk to grab her phone, and began swiping the screen. After a few swipes, she found what she was looking for and handed the phone to him.

On the screen was the following message:

**MISS ME?**

**SEE YA AT THE WEDDING**

**\- A**

Gabe looked at the message carefully, and then he handed the phone back to Hanna, who was starting to look tense.

"Have you told the others about this?" He said as he crossed his arms over the top of the chair.

Hanna nodded.

"No, I haven't. I'm not even sure if I should."

"Why not?"

She folded her hands together before speaking again.

"Everyone has just been so happy...I didn't want to mess that up with a false alarm."

"Hanna...if this threat is real then you and your friends could be in serious danger."

She slammed the binder shut and moved it away from her.

"It’s never gonna be over is it?”

She covered her face with her hands and breathed in deeply.

In and out.

In and out.

If she didn’t, she would start crying.

Gabe immediately got up from the chair and went over to try and comfort her.

Hanna put her hands on the desk, and looked up at him through glassy eyes.

"Wha..." She cleared her throat. "What do you think? Cruel prank or something else?"

"I don't know. It could be either one, but I don't think we can ignore this."

Hanna nodded in agreement.

"You're right."

She got up from the chair and began adjusting her outfit.

"You're absolutely right. And that son of a bitch isn't gonna know what hit them after I'm through with them," Hanna said with determination as she walked out the door.

Gabe followed her.

"Hanna, where are you going?"

"Nowhere," she answered him as she continued to walk down the hallway. She stopped in front of a desk and grabbed a red marker from it.

"What's that for?"

Hanna sighed angrily.

"I gotta get back to work," she said as she looked at the red marker.

She looked up at him again, and her gaze softened.

"Go back to work okay? I'll be fine here for a couple more hours. And then we can talk about this 'A' business at home. Okay?"

"Okay."

Hanna smiled, and walked back to her office.

**~*FOUR HOURS LATER - WORK-OUT CENTER, NY*~**

"Come on! Go! Go! Go!" Hanna's kick-boxing couch urged her as she hit the punching bag with her hands; she could feel herself getting stronger with every hit.

Her couch was a tough, but kind man named Samuel ‘Sam’ J. King who had been raised in the Bronx his entire life. She had started training with him around eight months ago.

Hanna breathed in deeply after the last punch.

"That last one was good," Sam told her as he readjusted the punching bag.

"What's got you so worked up in a tizzy, sweetheart?"

Hanna took a large gulp from her water bottle before answering him.

"Life. Stress. Rather, rinse, repeat. You know how it is."

"I sure do. Anything you want to talk about?"

"Not, really, but...Let's just say that some enemies never die."

She took another drink from her bottle.

"Well I'm sure you and your handsome boyfriend will be able to take them on together."

Hanna smiled at Sam.

"Thank you, Sam. I appreciate that."

"Anytime, hon. _Anytime_."

**~*FORTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER - GABE & HANNA'S NY APARTMENT*~**

Hanna struggled to get the key into the lock while also trying to balance two bags of take-out in the other.

"Need some help with that miss?" She heard a man with an accent ask her.

"Oh no, I just need to..." She began to answer, but then she stopped herself once she saw who it was.

She smiled.

"Lucas! How did you...?"

"I'm in the neighborhood for some business. Oh! Let me get that for you." He grabbed the bags from her hands and held them for her.

"Thank you, Lucas. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here to help me out."

"Well, you'd probably have a floor full of..." He looked at the front of the bags. "Chinese takeout."

Hanna continued to smile at him. After being jumpy all day, she needed to see a friendly face.

She finally managed to get the door open, and Lucas followed her inside.

"Nice place," he complimented her.

"Thank you."

"Uh, where do I put these?"

"Oh! Right. Over there is fine."

She pointed to a wooden table near the front.

After putting it down, Lucas crossed his arms.

"So...You and that detective are getting pretty serious huh?"

Hanna looked at him.

"Yeah, we are."

Lucas laughed lightly.

"That's so funny isn't it? Everyone expected you to end up with Caleb, and yet..."

He opened his arms.

Hanna chuckled.

"Yeah. Funny how life works out huh?" She told him kindly.

"Yeah. Hysterical…Well, it was nice seeing you."

"Yeah you too."

Lucas was almost on his way out, but then he stopped himself.

He turned around.

"Hey you know what? Why don't we both do some catching up? Just the two of us?"

"Yeah, sure!" She replied enthusiastically. "When?"

"How does next Saturday sound?"

Hanna's face fell.

"Oh, Lucas, I am so sorry. Aria's getting married that day, and I kinda need to be there."

Lucas shrugged and laughed it off.

"That's fine. We'll catch up another time."

Hanna nodded at him as he opened the door and left.

" _That was really weird_ ," she thought to herself as she stared at the door.

She shook the feeling off, and began taking the food out of the bags.

**~*TWENTY MINUTES LATER*~**

Hanna heard the key turning and looked up as she took a sip from her soup.

The door opened, and it was someone with a bunch of takeout bags in their hands.

Hanna almost choked on her soup from snickering.

"Guess what I have..." She heard Gabe say in a singsong voice through the bags.

He froze in the door way once he saw her at the table.

"And you already have it."

Hanna started giggling.

"Fine. More for me." He told her playfully.

Hanna continued to smile as she ate her soup.

Gabe walked over to the refrigerator, put the bags inside and closed the door.

"So..."

He walked over to the table, and sat down at the chair closest to her.

"How are you feeling?"

Hanna took a sip from her soup.

"I’m very happy right now. This soup is amazing. Here try it."

Hanna offered him a spoonful of soup, and he put it in his mouth.

"Hmm. not bad."

"I know right?"

She took the spoon back from him and continued eating.

"Listen, Han. I received a call today."

She took a sip and swallowed.

"Yeah? From who?"

Gabe looked at her and sighed.

"It was from Spencer."

Gabe hesitated before speaking again.

"She received another 'A' text this morning."

Hanna dropped the spoon into the bowl and spilled soup everywhere.


	17. Chapter 17

**~*TWO DAYS LATER - GABE & HANNA'S NY APARTMENT, 8:30 AM*~**

"Spence! I'm so glad you could make it on such short notice. Come in! Come in!" Hanna urged Spencer as she came through the door.

Spencer was only carrying one piece of luggage --- a duffel bag that she had swung over her right shoulder --- so she didn't need Hanna or Gabe to carry it for her.

Of course, that didn't stop them from offering her any kind of help whatsoever.

"Hey, do you want me to put that down for you?" Gabe asked her.

"Yeah, that looks kinda heavy," Hanna noted as she pointed at her bag.

"Oh, no, that's okay. I can do it. Where should I put it down?"

"The couch in the corner."

Gabe pointed to a maroon couch in the corner of the room, and Spencer smiled at him. She walked over to the couch, slipped the bag off her shoulder, and set it down.

"So, Spence...Did you bring your phone with you?" Hanna asked her.

"Yeah, I did," Spencer replied while she rummaged through the bag. She took out her phone and walked back to where they were standing.

"I didn't tell Gabe what was on the message when I called him the other day..."

"Yeah, I know. He told me."

Spencer began swiping through her phone.

"I thought it was just some dumb prank at first, but then I remembered...we used to live in Rosewood...Ah! Here it is. Look."

She stopped swiping and landed on a very disturbing message.

 

**YOU BITCHES WILL NEVER GET RID OF ME**

**I'M EVERYWHERE**

**AND NOWHERE**

**BUT PRETTY SOON**

**YOU WILL ALL BE DEAD**

**\- A**

The message also had a highly graphic image of a woman with her head cut off from a train accident attached to it.

Gabe looked at the image.

"Hey, that picture...That was from a case Tanner told me about years ago. The killer was the conductor of a train, and one night, he drove the train right into his ex-girlfriend. This 'A' wants to send you a message. A very brutal one at that."

"Yeah, but why show that picture to her? My message was simpler than yours Spence," Hanna said with worry.

"Maybe this 'A' hates me. God knows the Hastings have made enough enemies over the years," Spencer told the two of them glumly.

Hanna put her hand on Spencer's shoulder and squeezed it.

"When was the last time you spoke to Aria, Emily, or Alison?"

"Not since last week."

"What are we going to tell them when we try on our bridesmaids dresses tomorrow?"

Spencer looked at her and laughed.

"The truth? It's better than pretending like nothing's wrong."

Hanna nodded her head in agreement.

**~*THE NEXT DAY – PHILADELPHIA BOUTIQUE, 12:25 PM*~**

Aria spun in front of the large mirror trying to model her wedding dress.

"It looks beautiful, Aria," Hanna complimented her.

"Thank you. Ezra had some other ideas, but I just liked this one better," she said as she put her hands on her hips.

The other girls were already in their bridesmaids dresses, which were a light tan color and clearly influenced by the fashion of the thirties.

"Um, Aria, don't take this the wrong way or anything..." Hanna began to say carefully. "But I have to know. Who the hell decided that these beads were a good idea?" She asked her before laughing. She was referring to a string of beads around her waist.

Aria laughed along with her.

Alison walked over to them and looked at herself in the mirror.

"I think we all look great."

The other girls nodded in agreement.

"Don't you think so Spence?" Emily asked Spencer, who was the only one sitting on a low couch in the corner.

She had been off in another land after putting her dress on.

She looked up.

"What Emily?"

"Alison said that we all look great."

"Oh yeah. Yeah, we do."

The other three looked at Hanna as though they expected her to explain what was going on.

" _Now or never_ ," Hanna thought to herself.

"I know this is probably terrible of me to ask but...Have either of you received any 'A' messages lately?" Hanna asked them.

"Rollins knows better than to send me any more messages," Alison replied defiantly.

"And I haven't received any messages at all," Aria said.

"Neither have I," Emily replied. She crossed her arms and looked at Hanna seriously. "Why, did you get a message?"

"Yeah, I did."

She walked over to the sitting area and grabbed her phone.

She showed them the message.

"And that's not all," Spencer interrupted. She grabbed her phone and showed them her message as well.

Aria and Emily both let out a collective gasp.

"This has to be a joke right? Please tell me you guys are pulling a joke on us." Emily asked them worriedly.

"Em, why would we pull this kind of prank on you two?" Hanna asked her.

"But Rollins is 'A'! He practically confessed! He was supposed to go to jail for a very long time!" Aria said hoarsely.

"Rollins was 'A. D.', Aria, not 'A,'" Spencer told her.

"Maybe you should move your wedding to another day, Aria," Emily suggested.

"I wish I could, but we can't. It's too late to back out now."

"Then what do we do?" Hanna asked them.

"Extra security at the wedding?" Spencer suggested.

Hanna's face lit up.

"Oh, that's great! I actually have this friend, he's friends with a couple of bodyguard types," Hanna told her.

Alison chuckled.

"Um, I'm sorry. Since when are you friends with bodyguards? Do they shop from your catalogue?" She asked Hanna while trying to keep a straight face.

"Ha. Ha. _Ha_. Very funny, Ali. No, I met him through the phonebook. The point is, it won't hurt to have the extra security," Hanna replied to her.

"And we'll all be together..." Aria told them.

"Yeah we will," Spencer said.

"Always," Emily finished.

**~*GABE & HANNA'S NY APARTMENT – 9:45 PM*~**

"Oh, thank you so much Sam! Yeah, there's gonna be food there too. Yeah. Ha ha, yes I will. Thank you again."

Hanna hung up the phone and smiled.

Now she felt a little bit better about the safety of her friend.

But now this 'A' person was going to be there with all of them.

" _Let the games begin_ ," Hanna thought quietly to herself as a small smile creeped up on her.


	18. Chapter 18

**~*SIX DAYS LATER, JAMES HOLBROOK'S HOME---7 PM*~**

Hanna, Gabe, James, and David were all sitting at the dining room table when all of a sudden---

"No!" Hanna yelled as the timer went off.

"Ha! We beat you again," David said playfully as he high-fived his dad.

"Gabe, why did you think that _this_ meant 'computer mouse'?"

Hanna stuck out her hand and pressed her index finger to her thumb really fast.

"Oh come on!" He said in a high-pitched voice.

Hanna titled her head at him.

"You click on a mouse. That's what the finger tapping meant," he said in a normal tone.

Hanna rolled her eyes and leaned over the table to grab the controller for the **Catch Phrase Game** from David's hands.

Or she tried to at least.

David snatched the controller away before she had the chance to take it.

"Hey! Hey now," David said calmly. "Don't go snatching things out of my hands just because your boyfriend doesn't know how to describe words correctly."

"Oh now you've done it! We're doing this again," Hanna barked at him.

"Actually it's getting pretty late. We should probably get going if we wanna beat traffic," Gabe told her.

Hanna checked the silver watch on her left arm.

It was 7:02 P.M.

She sighed.

"Okay fine. We'll go."

She got up from the chair.

"But this isn't over," she told David as if they were on a competitive gaming show.

David only chuckled in response.

James walked them to the door and stood on the porch as he watched them get into their car.

"Have fun at the wedding you two!" He yelled at them cheerfully as the engine started to make some noise.

"It's not our wedding dad!" Gabe yelled back at him from the driver's seat window.

"Whatever you say."

Gabe shook his head and began to back out of the driveway...

**~*FIVE MINUTES LATER ---IN THE CAR*~**

Gabe inhaled deeply as the radio played on low volume in the background.

"Oh boy. Always nice to visit the family isn't it?" He told Hanna with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Yeah. I’m gonna beat your brother at that game the next time we play."

Gabe chuckled as he turned on an exit.

"Where is all this...competitiveness coming from?" He asked her curiously.

"You know what? I'm not really sure. It was so weird. I felt kinda like Spencer in there. Well. _Old high school Spencer_."

"Ha! Imagine if _she_ was on our team."

"Well I'm sure we'd have a better chance at winning if she was. Either way, I'm just glad we get to have moments like this."

Gabe turned toward her quickly and smiled.

"Real moments?" He asked her gently.

She smiled back at him.

"Yeah."

**~*THREE DAYS LATER --- BACK OF PHILADELPHIA CHURCH, 4:21 PM*~**

The girls were having a little trouble deciding who should stand next to whom.

"Okay, Aria, since you're the bride and let's face it, _the shortest_ , you should probably stand in front of us," Spencer told Aria.

"Oh, of course," Aria replied sheepishly. She walked in front of them and stood right in the middle where Spencer and Emily were. Being slightly shorter, Alison and Hanna were on either side of them.

"That's perfect," the photographer commented.

"Okay, on the count of three," the photographer began to say, "One...two...three..."

Click! The camera went off and captured their smiles.

"Beautiful. Nice work girls," the photographer said happily. He adjusted his camera stand and folded it up.

"And now I am off to go meet your husband-to-be. See ya later," He winked at Aria as he walked away from them toward the back entrance to the church.

"What's Ezra doing right now?" Hanna asked Aria.

"One of his friends said something about getting his tux on or something. So if Adam gets a picture of _that_ on our wedding day, then that will certainly make this day a little more interesting."

**~*INSIDE PHILADELPHIA CHURCH, 5:15 PM*~**

"I now pronounce you, husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

The minister smiled as Ezra took Aria in his arms and started kissing her.

"Whoo-hoo!" Spencer yelled as she and everyone else in the church erupted into thunderous applause.

Flashes of cameras went off, and a couple of the bridesmaids even had trouble keeping their tears in.

"Hanna, are you crying?" Emily asked her.

"Yeah, so what if I am? Aria's married now, Em. _Married_. Can you believe it?"

"Seems almost too good to be true," Alison replied calmly.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked her.

"She's talking about 'A' still being out there. Isn't that right Ali?" Spencer said while she tried to wipe her eyes with a handkerchief.

Alison merely shrugged.

"Yeah, well, we don't have to worry about that tonight. ’A’ would never try anything in front of all of these people," Hanna told them.

Spencer looked at Hanna with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay fine! I probably shouldn’t have said that," Hanna said with her arms crossed.

Soon afterwards, the crowd began to separate from their chairs, some of them shaking Ezra or Aria's hands and congratulating them. Others were already on their way to the reception at a nearby hotel.

"Need a ride, miss?"

Hanna knew the voice behind her all too well.

She turned around to see Gabe in his thirties outfit: a dark grey suit with a hat to match.

"Why yes, I do. Thank you, sir," she replied in her best imitation of a gal from the 30s.

In reality, however, she ended up sounding like a woman from the south who was selling lemonade for a dollar fifty on a hot summer's day.

She wrapped her arm around his, and they walked down the aisle of the church together.

**~* PHILADELPHIA HOTEL BALL ROOM, 5:35 PM*~**

"A toast to the bride and groom!" The best man cheered after finishing his speech.

Everyone raised their glasses and drank their wine (for others it was champagne) simultaneously.

Meanwhile, 'A' was observing everyone from afar with a smirk on their face from underneath their old man mask.

" _It pays to be disguised as a janitor_ ," they thought happily as they strolled by with their cleaning cart.

**~* PHILADELPHIA HOTEL BALL ROOM, 6:45 PM*~**

Loud music.

Violent dance moves.

"Yeaaaaaah! Come on! Whoo!"

Spencer danced her way through the crowd, making a fist pump every now and again as she danced through the crowd of other dancers.

Some people were even dancing with her.

"Aaaaaand she's drunk," Hanna told Emily, Alison, and Aria as they stood around a table with a row of finger foods.

Alison laughed and grabbed a mini red-velvet cupcake from the table near her.

"Ooh, I'm taking one of those."

Hanna grabbed another one off the table and ate the entire thing in one gulp.

"Mmmm. That's really good. And now I'm thirsty."

"Here."

Emily handed her a glass of champagne.

"Thank you," she said with a smile as she grabbed the glass from Emily's hand and took a sip.

"So, Aria?" Alison asked as she turned to face her.

Aria raised her eyebrows in response.

"How does it feel to finally be Mrs. Fitz?"

"Well, I am happy to say that it feels great. After all we've been through...It just feels right."

"Where is he by the way?" Hanna asked her.

"Oh, he went to go talk about something with his parents."

"Well, in case I haven't said it already, I'll say it again. I am so happy for you Aria."

"You never know, Han. You could be next."

"Okay, I see where you're going with this and all I'm gonna say is that we're taking it slow. Don't expect marriage any time soon."

"Oh really?"

She knew Aria was teasing her, but that didn't stop her.

"I'm serious. Gabe and I are nowhere close to having our relationship upgraded to 'engaged' status, and I'd like to keep it that way. Did you forget that I was engaged once before? And that I stupidly broke it off with him because I thought I had a shot with my old high school boyfriend again?"

"Speaking of which..." Emily said with surprise.

The others turned around to find Caleb walking toward them wearing a black tux and a blue bow tie.

"Hey guys!" He greeted them cheerfully. They all waved back.

"Yeaaahhhh!!!" They heard Spencer's voice yell somewhere nearby. Caleb immediately turned around.

"Spencer's creating a conga line, wow."

He turned back around.

"Anyway, sorry I'm late. There was a mix up with my taxi and we ended up in a different corner of the street until we finally realized that the ceremony was not taking place in a library."

"Well, at least you made it," Hanna told him kindly. He smiled at her in response.

"Your girlfriend is making quite a scene isn't she?" She asked him playfully.

Caleb looked fondly over at Spencer and laughed.

"Yeah, she is, isn't she?"

"So how are Toby and Yvonne doing lately?"

"They're great. They don't have any kids yet though if that's what you're asking. But Toby's now a sheriff in his town, and he seems to enjoy doing that."

"How are you?"

"I feel pretty good about where my life is right now."

"I'm so glad to hear that."

"Thank you. I'm glad you're happy too."

Hanna scoffed.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Your eyes have started sparkling a lot more lately… You're not pregnant are you?"

Hanna titled her head in annoyance.

"No, I'm not. But thank you for noticing my eyes."

"Sure. But seriously, you seem to be thriving in your life. Boyfriend. Career. I really am happy for you, Han."

He patted her on the shoulder and exchanged a smile with her once more. He soon turned to Aria who was standing near him.

"Aria, congratulations on your marriage. I hope you guys last for as long as realistically possible."

Aria raised her eyebrow in confusion, but she decided to shake it off.

"Um, thanks Caleb. I think," she said with a grin.

Out of nowhere, Emily tapped Caleb on the shoulder.

"Caleb? Spencer wants you to join her conga line."

Caleb sighed deeply.

"Oh boy. Well, I guess I'll see you all later."

He waved them good bye and left to go join Spencer on the dance floor.

**~* PHILADELPHIA HOTEL BALL ROOM, 7:10 PM*~**

The girls, plus a very exhausted Spencer, were all sitting around a circular table listening to Aria tell them about Ezra's book.

"And that's when we finally finished that stupid book. It took a while, but I'm just glad it's finally out of our lives for good," Aria told them after her second drink of champagne.

"Seems like that book was just a waste of time," Hanna said annoyed.

Aria took another long sip, and set her drink down on the table.

"I wouldn't say a complete waste of time, but it's nice to finally have it be over."

"Aria," Ezra's voiced called from nearby.

"Ezra!"

She got up from her chair and threw her arms around him.

"It's time for us to have another dance. I bribed the DJ to play a few slow songs after this next one."

Aria's face fell and she turned to look at the rest of the girls who were still sitting at the table. She looked back at him.

"Um, yeah. Give me ten minutes, okay?"

Ezra nodded and disappeared into the crowd. She looked anxiously at the other girls before speaking again.

"Can you guys follow me somewhere quiet? I need to talk to you."

**~* PHILADELPHIA HOTEL, ROOM 240, 7:15 PM*~**

"So this is your room huh? It's nice," Hanna complimented as they walked through the door.

"Yeah it is, isn't it?" Aria responded.

They all made their way to the couches and bed. Spencer sunk into the giant king size mattress with Emily sitting at the foot of the bed. Hanna sat on the couch, while Alison set herself down in a chair that was near the TV.

Aria continued to stand in the middle of the room.

"So why did you bring us all the way up here?" Alison asked her curiously.

"Ezra's taking me to The Bahamas for our honeymoon. Actually, that's part of the reason why I wanted you all here."

She clasped her hands together nervously.

"With this 'A' running around again, I don't feel safe anymore. After tomorrow, I will no longer be living on the East Coast. No more Boston. No more Philly. No more Rosewood. I am moving to Washington State after our honeymoon."

"That's probably a good ideaaa..." A drunken Spencer slurred as she lay on the pillow.

"We should probably do the same," Alison told them.

"Some of us don't have that option, Ali," Hanna shot at her.

"Well, no matter what happens… I just want you guys to know how thankful I am to have known four such wonderful girls...Okay, not always wonderful but---"

"Oh come here!" Spencer yelled from her bed.

She got up and walked over to Aria to give her a big hug.

The girls soon joined them and formed a group hug.

After they broke away, Hanna noticed that she was crying.

"Aria, are you crying?" She asked her.

"I'm sorry, I just...I'm just so happy. I'm gonna miss you all so much."

More group hugging.

Aria wiped her eyes.

"Okay, okay. We'd better get back down there before they start playing dance music again."

She shot a quick glance at Spencer who winked at her.

**~* PHILADELPHIA HOTEL BALL ROOM, 7:35 PM*~**

Aria and Ezra slow danced as the spotlight shined on them.

"They look so happy together," Hanna said with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Looks can be deceiving," Gabe said unimpressed.

They were slow dancing to the music as well.

Hanna rolled her eyes and turned her face toward him.

"You still don't trust Ezra huh?"

"Nope. But Aria is happy, so it's really not my place to judge."

Hanna looked back at the newlyweds dancing, and suddenly, a scary thought entered her mind.

She swallowed and looked Gabe right in the eye.

"So...this entire ceremony has got me thinking..."

"Uh huh..."

"I don't know how to bring this up without sounding awkward but---"

"Just say it."

Cut to the chase? Probably a good idea.

"Okay..."

She took a deep breathe.

"Where do you see us in five year---"

She never had the chance to finish the sentence because all the lights had gone out.

Along with the speakers, electricity, and pretty much everything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Whoo! What a ride. Oh, and by the way…That game? I’ve actually played that with my family. It’s pretty fun.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, fair warning…In this chapter, I went ahead and ripped off that Band-Aid that the writers are afraid to tear off.

**~*PHILADELPHIA HOTEL BALL ROOM, 7:37 PM*~**

Ezra walked over to where Hanna and Gabe were standing.

He was using his cellphone to light his way through the crowds.

"What the hell was that?" He asked them.

Gabe shrugged with his shoulders.

"Who knows?”

"Looks like the power is out on this entire floor,” Ezra said, annoyed.

He was about to turn away when someone shoved a huge flashlight into his arms.

"Here, take this instead."

It was Sam's friend, Marty.

"Oh, that is better, thank you."

"Can I have one too?" Aria asked him.

"Yeah sure," Marty told her. He looked behind him where Sam was standing ten feet away.

"Hey, Sam."

Sam raised his eyebrows.

"Give her your other flashlight."

Sam walked over to them and handed his extra flashlight to Aria. Meanwhile, Ezra was looking around the semi dark room trying to decide what he was going to do next.

"Look, I think I'd better check up on this. Maybe maintenance needs a little help solving the problem."

"You don't know anything about this kind of stuff, Ezra," Aria told him worriedly.

"Not much, but as the saying goes 'two heads are better than one'."

He kissed Aria on the lips.

"I'll be back before you know it."

He smiled at her and then he left.

**~*PHILADELPHIA HOTEL BALL ROOM, 8:06 PM*~**

The girls were all back at their table using their cellphones to light up their surroundings. Gabe had left to go have a talk with the hotel manager, but he had come back shortly afterwards, and was now talking with Sam, Marty, and a few of their friends. Several of the party goers were murmuring things as they waited for the power to come back on. Some had even resorted to taking selfies with their friends out of boredom. Others were threatening to leave if the power didn't come back on within the next ten minutes.

Aria drummed her fingers on the table until she couldn't take it anymore.

"Where the hell is he?! This crowd is getting restless and Ezra still hasn't come back from wherever he went."

"I'm sure he's fine, Aria," Hanna told her as calmly as she could.

"Is he? Because this whole power outage thing is exactly the kind of mess that 'A' would put us in. They're probably gonna trap us all in here with no way to leave. Pretty soon the food will run out and we'll be forced to eat each other up like the Donner party."

"Aria," Alison said sternly.

"I'm sorry. But I'm just so worried."

"We could go find Ezra for you if you want," Emily offered.

Aria considered the idea for a moment, but then she shook her head.

"No. That's okay. You know what? 'A' or no 'A,' I am gonna find my husband."

Aria got up from her seat.

"And if 'A' tries anything on me, I can always whack them over the head with this." She lifted her flashlight.

The other girls laughed as Aria disappeared into the crowd of people.

It was like a lighting ceremony. The way everyone used the light of their cellphones to illuminate the area around them.

**~*PHILADELPHIA HOTEL BALL ROOM, 8:10 PM*~**

The crowd murmured sighs of relief as one by one, the lights gradually began to come back on again.

The manager of the hotel moved to the center of the dance floor and put his arms up to quiet and focus the crowd.

"I apologize for the inconvenience. But we have solved the problem. Enjoy the rest of your night everyone!"

The crowd cheered.

The DJ ran up to the stage and put his headphones back on.

"Okay everybody! Let's blow the roof off this mother!"

Loud blaring dance music filled the area once more.

It was like nothing happened.

"See? Aria was wrong. There's no cannibalism going on here," Spencer said nonchalantly.

Alison and Emily laughed.

"Where is she anyway?" Hanna asked.

"Maybe we should go look for her," Emily said with a look around the room.

"Yeah, we probably should---" Alison started to say, but she was interrupted by Hanna's ringtone going off.

Hanna reached into her purse and took out her phone.

"Hold on a sec, Aria just sent me a text."

Hanna smiled as she read it.

"Um, guys? I think she's very happy where she is."

"Why?" Emily asked her curiously.

"She just texted me that they decided to celebrate their marriage a little early. If you know what I mean," she said coyly.

"Well who can blame them?" Spencer commented.

They all laughed and marched out onto the dance floor.

**~*PHILADELPHIA HOTEL BALL ROOM, 8:55 PM*~**

Everyone was having a good time when all of a sudden, Marty and Caleb marched on to the stage.

"I'm sorry, but we need to cut the music," Marty told the DJ, who had been clapping his hands in time with the music people were dancing to.

"Oh, come on now man, this is a good song---"

"Now!" Caleb yelled at him.

The DJ rolled his eyes, and took the needle off the record.

Out on the dance floor, Emily, Hanna, Spencer, and Alison were confused by the sudden interruption like the others.

Sam pushed through the crowd of disappointed party goers and went straight toward them.

Hanna could tell by the look on his face that something was _very_ wrong.

"Sam, what is it?" She asked him carefully.

Sam inhaled deeply before speaking.

"Your friend, Caleb, went outside for some fresh air...and he saw something."

Just then, Caleb showed up. Hanna looked to him for any sort of explanation.

"Caleb...What did you see?"

He sighed, and pulled her away from the crowd full of eavesdroppers.

When she saw the look in his eyes, she was taken aback. It looked like he was fighting the urge to start crying.

Hanna could practically feel her heart dropping into her stomach.

"Caleb...Tell me. _Please_ ," she urged him softly.

"Aria...I…I found her outside..."

Caleb put his hand across his face before speaking again.

"She's dead."

" _What?!_ " Spencer shouted.

"Are you sure?" Hanna asked Caleb.

She eyed Sam anxiously.

"Did you see anything?"

"Yeah, he asked me to look after he found her. Do you wanna go and see?"

Hanna looked over at the others.

Spencer and Emily were both sobbing.

Alison looked like she wanted to cry, but seemed to have trouble getting the tears out.

She nodded her head.

"Yeah."

She followed Sam through the throngs of people who were starting to look tense.

Suddenly, Ezra came bursting through the crowd.

"Hey...What's wrong?"

He saw the looks on the girls’ faces.

"Where's Aria....?" He asked them grimly.

"She's dead," Sam told him.

Ezra looked like he wanted to throttle Sam in that moment.

" _Show me_ ," he said through his teeth.

Sam nodded his head in the direction ahead, and soon, they all began to follow him.

**~*PHILADELPHIA HOTEL POOL PATIO--- FIVE MINUTES LATER*~**

Near a couple of the pool-side chairs, was the outline of a body covered up by a dark green tablecloth.

They all ran to the scene of the crime.

"Why is she covered up?" Ezra choked his words out.

"It's not a pretty sight," Sam told him.

"Show me," he said.

"I don't think that's a good idea---"

"SHOW ME! NOW!" Ezra yelled at him.

Sam sighed and walked over to the tablecloth.

He lifted it up.

Underneath the sheet was Aria, her face bloodied up and beaten, her eyes closed.

"When I found her, her eyes were open. I'd never seen such a tragic thing in my life...At least not at a wedding."

Ezra looked at Hanna and glared at her.

"Was your boyfriend with you all night?" He asked her angrily.

"Yes, I was," Gabe answered him from right next to Hanna.

He had followed everyone from the ball room.

"Oh were you? The entire time?" Ezra asked him skeptically.

"I only left twice. Once to go get some ice, and finally, to speak with the manger. Other than that, I was here on the dance floor all night."

"That’s funny, because I don’t recall seeing much of you on the dance floor. And how do I know you didn't leave again so you could kill my wife? I mean no one would have noticed you would they?"

"Look, I'm sorry that you're going through a tough time right now, but you're not the only who's affected by this."

Gabe looked over at the girls who were now sobbing. Even Alison was finally letting out a few grief-stricken tears.

"These girls just lost a friend, and the first thing you're doing is pointing fingers? _I didn't kill your wife!"_

"Well, I find that very hard to believe."

"Oh really? And why is that?"

"You never liked us as a couple."

"What the hell does my view on you two have to do with anything? Yes, I'm not a big fan, but that doesn't mean I'm just gonna go ahead and kill the bride!"

"JUST ADMIT THAT YOU DID IT!"

"I DIDN'T DO IT! There are over a hundred people here. Maybe you should ask one of your friends if _they_ did it."

"Gabe."

Hanna shook her head disapprovingly.

"I'm sorry, that was a low blow."

Gabe leaned down and put the tablecloth back over Aria's body.

"But I didn't kill her. I'm calling Philly P.D. right now."

**~*PHILADELPHIA HOTEL, ROOM 240, 10:02 PM*~**

Gabe looked all around the room at the surroundings.

Everything appeared normal except for one chilling factor.

The window was wide open.

"Seems pretty straight forward. Death by falling. The coroner will let us know soon," Gabe said out loud to a woman next to him.

She eyed him carefully and took out her hand for him to shake.

"Detective Tracy Sanderson."

Gabe took her hand firmly and shook it.

"Gabriel. Holbrook. Gabe for short."

"And who are you exactly, Mr. Holbrook? My sources tell me that you are a..."

"Private detective," He finished for her.

She raised her eyebrow at him.

"Well, not yet, but I'm on my way to becoming one."

Detective Sanderson nodded her head and grinned.

"Ah. Well, you certainly seem to know your way around a crime scene."

"Well, I used to work for the Pennsylvania State Police. So..."

He walked with her toward the open window. They both looked over the side carefully before bringing themselves back in again.

"What do you think? Suicide or Murder?" He asked her.

"Well, we'll probably know more about this as soon as these guys dust the place," she gestured to the CSI team that was walking around the room. The other half of the team was currently at the pool, along with the medical examiner who was looking over Aria’s body.

"I think it may be murder," Gabe told her seriously.

"Really? Why?" She asked him.

"Just a gut feeling."

Tracy nodded her head slowly.

“Right…So can you tell me what happened here tonight?”

Gabe shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know. My girlfriend Hanna was her friend, and one of the bridesmaids. She’s the reason why I came.”

“Interesting…Well, I think you should let us get back to our job. Go comfort your girlfriend.”

Tracy gestured toward the doorway.

“Yeah, I will. Uh, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you guys,” he told her in a friendly voice.

“We will. Thank you.”

**~*PHILADELPHIA POLICE STATION, 11:14 PM*~**

Ella and Byron Montgomery were talking with a few of the local Philly cops while the rest of the girls sat in the waiting room.

“I can’t believe this has happened,” Emily said sadly.

“God, we never should have let Aria go off alone. If we had gone with her, then none of this would have ever happened,” Hanna said quietly.

"This is not happening. This is not happening,” Spencer said furiously.

"Well it is, Spencer. Our friend is dead. We should have tried harder to stop this wedding."

"And then what? ‘A’ follows us everywhere we go, it's not like we can hide anywhere!"

Alison looked over at Aria’s parents who looked paler than the beige paint on the police station walls.

“You know they haven’t cried once since her body was found a couple of hours ago?”

“They’re in shock,” Emily told her.

“Clearly.”

“Where’s Mike?” Spencer asked them.

“I don’t know. I thought I heard him crying in the men’s bathroom, but it could have just been my imagination.”

“Hanna, why were you in the men’s bathroom?”

“ _I walked past it_. I didn’t actually go inside.”

**~*PHILADELPHIA POLICE STATION INTERROGATION ROOM, 11:20 PM*~**

Detective Sanderson moved the cup of water toward Hanna.

“Drink. You’ve been through a lot tonight.”

Hanna looked at the woman suspiciously, but she took a small sip of water anyway.

“So.”

Tracy sat down in the chair in front of Hanna.

“I am very sorry that your friend is dead. From what I know, you two were quite close. Is that correct?”

“Yes, we were. Especially in high school.”

“Can you tell me what happened here tonight?”

“What about the statements?”

“I know, but we need to hear it again.”

“Okay…Well, there’s not much to tell. The last time I saw Aria was when the power went out. The other girls and I decided to dance while she was away because we thought she was safe. She…”

Hanna looked at Tracy nervously, unsure if she should continue.

“She sent me a text. I assumed that she and Ezra wanted some alone time since it was their wedding night and everything.”

“Do you still have the text?”

“Yeah. Yeah I do.”

“Can I see it, please?”

Tracy held out her hand expectantly.

Hanna, who had been holding the phone in her lap the entire time, took it out and began swiping the screen.

After finding the text, she carefully placed it on the table in front of her and turned it around so Tracy could read it.

**HEY GUYS. FOUND EZRA.**

**WE’RE IN OUR ROOM RIGHT NOW**

**CELEBRATING OUR MARRIAGE EARLY.**

**DON’T WAIT UP.**

**;)**

“And you didn’t think the text was suspicious?”

“Not at the time, no.”

Tracy pushed the phone back toward Hanna. But before she could grab it, Tracy stopped her.

“Wait. Maybe we should keep your phone for evidence.”

She saw the look on Hanna’s face.

“Don’t worry. You’ll get it back soon.”

**~*PHILADELPHIA POLICE STATION INTERROGATION ROOM, 11:58 PM*~**

“So I’ve had a talk with Aria’s other friends. Including her fiancé. He had several interesting things to say about you, Gabriel.”

Gabe raised his eyebrow.

“Really? Like what?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Why don’t you start by telling me why you left the party while your girlfriend and her friends were standing around a food table?”

“Which time are you referring to?”

“Right around the time Spencer Hastings was making a scene out on the dance floor. That’s how Mr. Fitz described it.”

“You mean five hours ago?”

Tracy nodded.

Gabe thought for a minute, and then…

“Oh! Right. I left because I went to go get some ice for someone.”

**~*PHILADELPHIA HOTEL BALL ROOM --- FIVE HOURS AND EIGHTEEN MINUTES AGO*~**

"Uh, Holbrook?"

Gabe turned around to find an antsy looking Ezra before him.

"Can I have a word with you?" He said as loudly as he could through the loud thumping music.

Gabe looked across the room and noticed that Hanna was talking with Alison, Aria, and Emily.

"Sure," Gabe told him reluctantly.

Ezra turned on his heel and Gabe followed him toward the entrance and down the hallway that opened up before them.

They walked for quite a bit until the music slowly faded away.

"Ah," Ezra commented after their short trek down the halls. "Finally some quiet."

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

Ezra cleared his throat.

"Oh, right. Well I just wanted to thank you for all that you've done to protect Aria and her friends."

"You're welcome, but...Hanna deserves most of the credit. She got her friend Sam and his friends to help out with some of the security. If there's anyone you should be thanking, it should be her."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Silence.

Gabe put his hands into his pockets.

Ezra walked closer to him and put one hand on his shoulder.

"Speaking of Hanna...You guys are next right?"

Gabe was clueless.

"Next for what?"

Ezra raised his eyebrows and laughed.

"To be married of course! I mean if she's not marrying Caleb, then it's gotta be you, right?"

Gabe gently took Ezra's hand off his shoulder with his own hand.

He crossed his arms.

"Whatever future I have with Hanna, that's between me and her."

Ezra smiled.

"I see."

He was still smiling at him, which started to give Gabe an uneasy feeling. He adjusted the hat on his head and cleared his throat.

"Look, people are expecting me to go find a bag of ice. So…I’d better go find it.”

Gabe waved good bye and began making his way down the hall.

“Yeah, sure,” He heard Ezra’s voice say from behind him.

Once he turned the corner, the thought of getting ice was back on his mind again.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a generic ringtone, and Ezra's voice responding with a "Yeah?"

He knew he had to get the ice, but his curiosity began to get the better of him.

He silently leaned against the wall to hear what Ezra was saying.

"Yeah. Yeah. Uh-huh. Yep, that is the plan. Well, our honeymoon is after this so..."

Gabe moved a few steps to the left, but then…

Crunch.

He had accidentally stepped on a piece of glass on the floor.

He froze.

"Hang on," Ezra's voice told the person on the other line.

Gabe knew he had to get away, _fast_.

His fear seemed to pump adrenaline into his body, and because of it, he was able to move away quickly from Ezra and his mysterious phone call.

**~*PHILADELPHIA POLICE STATION INTERROGATION ROOM, 12:05 AM*~**

"And that's what happened. If Fitz is trying to make me look bad, it’s because I was never a big fan of their relationship."

“Who was on the phone with him?”

“I have no idea.”

"And about him and Aria…How did their relationship start?"

"Do you want pre-book stalking or after?"

Tracy didn’t respond to that, but she smiled.

“Well, thank you Mr. Holbrook.”

She nodded toward the guard in the corner who began to walk over to them.

“I suggest you don’t stray too far from the 'Big Apple'. We may need to speak with you again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So yeah. “Main Character Death” is one of those Band-Aids that the writers refuse to tear off. There’s also: 1) Letting the girls end up with people they haven’t been with since the first season, and 2) making at least one of them a part of the ‘A’ team. And with that, all I can say is…Wow.


	20. Chapter 20

**~*ONE WEEK LATER - ROSEWOOD CHURCH, 12:15 PM*~**

Spencer stumbled on to the stand and cleared her throat.

"Hello, everyone," she said calmly.

"Today we are here to honor a fallen friend. Aria Marie Montgomery."

She looked at the cards in her hand and cleared her throat once more.

"Aria was special to all of us. She was my friend--- _our_ friend."

She looked over at the first row where Emily, Hanna, and Alison were sitting. They all had silent tears flowing out of them.

"Aria, she...She was one of the best people that I've ever known, but she could also be the worst. Ha."

She rubbed her eyes.

"Aria wasn't perfect by any means, but she was our best friend. She was also a sister, a daughter, a...A _wife_."

Spencer nearly choked on the last word.

"She also loved writing and photography, and I hope that...I hope that..."

Spencer backed away from the stand.

"I'm sorry, I can't do this," she said abruptly.

The people in the church watched as Spencer power-walked off the stage and through the doors behind her.

A few moments of awkward silence passed before Ella decided to get up and walk over to the stand.

"My daughter is... _was_ the most wonderful daughter I could ever hope to ask for...and we appreciate all of you being here today. Thank you.”

Her voice was soft because she had cried so much that she could barely speak.

Now she was just numb.

**~*ROSEWOOD CEMETERY--- THIRTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER*~**

There was something about seeing Aria's grave being lowered into the ground that struck a nerve in all the girls.

Hanna grabbed Gabe's hand and squeezed it. He didn't even look at her, but she didn't need him to; she just needed him to be there, and he was.

Hanna looked up and saw that Byron and Ezra were standing right next to each other.

Ezra looked as though he had aged five years in one week, and Aria's dad looked like he had aged twenty.

This was, without a doubt, the worst month of her life.

Of all of their lives.

**~*TWO WEEKS LATER - GABE & HANNA'S NY APARTMENT, 10:23 AM*~**

Gabe held Hanna's hand while they sat on the couch in their (extremely tiny!) living room.

"You've been so tense lately," he said softly.

"Have I? Sorry, I thought I was covering it up better," she snapped at him.

Realizing her abruptness, she gave him an apologetic look and sighed.

"I'm sorry. I just...I hate that every time I think 'A' is out of my life...they just keep on coming back again."

She put her face in her hands.

When she looked up she was frustrated.

"I keep going through it in my mind over and over again. There's not a single person at the wedding who might have had the motive do this. I mean why would they? It was nothing but Ezra's old college friends, plus Aria's family. No one on that list has any reason to want any of us dead."

"You know Han...You don't have to do this. You're under a lot of stress right now with Aria being gone and having to deal with the police again---"

She shook her head.

"No, I can't. I can't stop."

Hanna got up from the couch and walked directly to the refrigerator.

"I want a normal life, and I can't have that if I roll over and sit like a dog right?"

She opened the refrigerator door and grabbed a soda from the inside.

She popped the can open, and took a sip.

"Well, you are right about having to take control of your own life," Gabe told her from the couch. He got up and started walking toward her.

"And if you're gonna take down this person, then I'm gonna be right there with you."

She took another long drink from the can before speaking.

"I know you will," she said with a small smile.

Gabe stopped about two feet in front of her.

"Well, yeah," he put his hands in his pockets. "We're a team remember?"

"Hmm."

Hanna put the soda can on the edge of the kitchen sink.

"You know..."

She began walking closer to him.

"This could get really dangerous," she said quietly.

"Yeah, I'm guessing it will be."

Close.

"Not to mention, the fact that this person has already killed one of my friends already."

Closer.

"Yep."

They were inches away from each other now.

"So tell me...What would Gabe Holbrook do?”

He smiled.

"Fight back."

"Then we're already on the same page," she said clearly and confidently.

Hanna backed away from him and walked over to the bookshelf that was in the corner of the room. She began rummaging through the books that were stacked there.

"What are you looking for, Han?"

"You know what."

Gabe raised his eyebrows when he realized what she was looking for.

"Um, Hanna...I know you're desperate to find Aria's killer and protect your friends but...I'm not so sure ol' Mr. Doyle will be any good to us now."

She stopped and turned around.

"I know that, Gabe," she said annoyed. "But you know me...Do you really think I'm just looking to read a _Sherlock Holmes_ mystery? You've practically told me every line from the book, anyway."

She smiled after she said the last part.

Gabe crossed his arms.

"Okay, then what?"

Hanna chuckled.

"Well...This should be a huge help for everyone."

She held up a digital voice recorder.

Gabe laughed.

"Ha! Of course! That’s very clever of you."

Hanna smiled as she turned the recorder in her hands.

"All we need is for someone to confess that they're 'A' and this nightmare will finally be over."

"Easier said than done."

"True. _But_ , I am feeling both determined and lucky. With those two combined, who knows what me and my friends can get up to?"

"I have no doubt about that, but...What about the people at the wedding?"

Hanna swallowed nervously.

"Yeah... I know."

She sighed and pressed her hands into her hair.

"That means Aria's death was an inside job," she said with her hands still in her hair.

Suddenly, she was struck by a brilliant idea.

She walked back over to the couch and grabbed the coat that was hanging off the arm.

"Going somewhere?" He asked her.

"As a matter of fact...Yes, I am."

She put the coat on and grabbed her car keys from the table.

"Spencer's a bit of a long drive from here," he told her calmly.

She held her hair up and twisted it into a ponytail.

"Oh, I'm not meeting up with Spencer. Or any of the others."

Gabe was starting to get it.

"Wait..."

He walked over to the table.

"You're gonna visit Rollins aren't you?"

"Yes, I am."

"There's no way in hell that man is gonna tell you anything about Charlotte."

"Of course not. But maybe I can wrangle something else out of him."

Gabe looked fondly at her. He loved her determination to do whatever it took to protect her friends, but it also scared him to death.

He gave her a soft kiss on the lips. When they broke away, he gently placed his hand on her cheek.

"Be safe."

She smiled at him.

"I will. I love you."

"I love you, too."

**~*PENNSYLVANIA STATE PRISON --- 5:45 PM*~**

Hanna sat down and grabbed the phone off the receiver. She looked directly at the person who was staring at her through the other side of the glass.

"Hmm. Hanna Marin. Long time, no see. What brings you here?" Rollins asked her cheerfully.

Maybe a bit too cheerful for her tastes.

"I'm here to ask you something," she said as bravely as she could.

"Oh really?"

"My friend was murdered by someone at her wedding."

"Really? Which friend?"

Silence.

She did not feel comfortable one bit discussing this with him.

"Aria," she said quietly.

He raised his eyebrows and chuckled.

"Well, you have my condolences on that. Such a shame."

Hanna rolled her eyes.

"Oh, give me a break. You're glad she's dead," she said, annoyed.

"Well, to be honest, I would prefer it if Alison were the one lying dead in a coffin, but that's just me."

She could feel the anger boiling inside her already.

"Alison's fine. And as far as lying in a coffin, I personally think that prison is much _much_ worse. But you know... _That's just me_."

She smiled coldly at him.

He just laughed at her.

"So what is it that you wanted to ask me?"

She tightened her hold on the phone.

"You hung around Charlotte a lot." She frowned. "You must have known about the dolls that she made. The threats that she put us all under. The way we would constantly look over our shoulders because we were scared for our lives."

"Are you approaching a point?" He asked her firmly.

"Did she ever tell you anything about a third 'A'? Someone else who might have had it out for us since high school?"

Rollins leaned back in his chair and sighed. He looked like he was about to hang up, but then he changed his mind.

"I don't normally do this, but...I'm feeling generous today. Yes, as a matter of fact, there was one person that Charlotte would talk about every now and then during our 'sessions.' She told me that this person had all of you fooled."

Hanna was taken aback.

_"So it was an inside job!"_ she thought to herself.

"Do you know the name of the person?"

He leaned closer toward the glass.

"You would just love that wouldn't you?"

"I will do whatever it takes to protect the people I love."

"And what will you do when you can no longer protect them?"

Hanna pondered her response for a moment, but then they were interrupted by the door being opened.

It was a policeman.

"Miss? Your time is up."

"Really? That was awfully quick,” she said with surprise in her voice.

"Yeah, well. We have these rules for a reason," the officer told her.

Hanna looked over at Rollins, disappointed, but she managed herself. She put the phone back on the hook and got up from her chair.

As he watched her walk away with the policeman, Rollins smiled.

_"If only she knew. If only they all knew,"_ he thought happily to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well of course you're feeling generous, Elliot. The story needs to keep on moving! And we're almost to the end! I just need a few more chapters, and then I will finally be able to let go of this ship. Not completely of course. But I've been writing this story since the spring, and I really want to finish it. ;)


	21. Chapter 21

**~*THREE DAYS LATER - NY BAR, 9 PM*~**

Hanna stared glumly at the wine glass in her hands.

"Can you believe we're already celebrating another new year?"

Emily's question brought Hanna back down to Earth. To be perfectly honest, the thought had never even crossed her mind.

Hanna chuckled.

"Guess I never really gave much thought to it." She shrugged. "Not like I give a damn about any of that anyway...Not since Aria's funeral."

"You didn't watch the news a week ago? Or hear your neighbors celebrating?"

Hanna took a long gulp from her glass and set it down on the bar.

"Like I said, Em. I really _really_ did not give a damn," she said with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

Emily looked her up and down before speaking again.

"Look, we've all been on edge ever since Aria's murder. But you can't just break down. We still have targets on our backs," she reminded her calmly.

Hanna sighed and pushed the glass away from her.

"I know we do."

"Have you gotten another chance to ask Rollins about who he was talking about?"

Hanna shook her head.

"No. They won't let me visit him again until next month."

"And did you tell the others? Alison? Spencer?"

"Ali went on full freak-out mode, and I could practically hear Spencer's brain sending off little alarm bells."

"Yeah, I kinda freaked out too when you told me."

"They know we're meeting up tomorrow right?"

"Yeah, they do."

"Good. And you know what else?”

Emily looked at her, confused.

“No, what?”

“I think it's high time I got out of this joint."

Hanna let herself off the stool and almost tripped.

"Ugh."

Emily stepped down from her stool and attempted to help Hanna stand upright.

"I'm gonna go ahead and drive you home, because you don't look like you're in any condition to drive," Emily told her with concern.

"Yeah, that's probably best," Hanna replied sourly.

**~*GABE AND HANNA'S NY APARTMENT, 9:30 PM*~**

Gabe opened the door to find a groggy looking Hanna being held up by Emily.

"Hey," he said to Emily.

He looked at Hanna worriedly and then looked back over at Emily.

"Thanks, Emily. I'll take it from here."

Emily gently handed her over to him, which ultimately resulted in Hanna collapsing into his arms.

"Good night," Emily told him as she opened the door.

Gabe waved.

"Good night."

Emily smiled and closed the door behind her.

Using all the strength that he had, Gabe picked Hanna up and carried her to their room and to their bed.

He set her down gently.

"Hanna," he whispered softly.

She groaned slightly and turned onto her side.

"Ugh...My head is throbbing right now."

"Yeah, I know that feeling all too well. I'm sorry."

Hanna took a pillow and hugged it. Her back was still turned to him, but she spoke anyway.

"I love how much you care about me," she said with a smile.

Gabe laughed and sat down on the bed next to her.

"And I love the way you care about others."

He tucked a loose hair behind her hair and smiled. Afterwards, he began to hear the faint noise of her sleeping.

Tomorrow would be another day.

**~*THE NEXT DAY --- 8:33 AM*~**

Hanna awoke to find that she still had a headache, but not as intensely as the night before.

She looked over at the clock on the bedside table.

She groaned.

**~*FORTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER*~**

Hanna raced over to the table and drank the lone cup of coffee sitting on it in one huge gulp.

"Sure, help yourself," Gabe's voice called out from behind her.

Alarmed, she turned around.

"Oh, right. I'm so sorry--"

He put up his hand.

"It's okay. I know you've had...quite a long night."

Hanna set the cup down on the table.

"Yeah. I didn't exactly have the greatest morning."

"Well, I have something that's gonna make it all better."

He held up a small paper bag.

"Please tell me that there's something with an egg inside there."

"Yeah, along with tomatoes, cheese, hash browns--"

Hanna snatched the bag from his hands.

She grinned and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"I would do anything for you, Hanna. _Anything_ ," he said so quietly it was almost like a whisper.

Her eyes beamed up at him.

"I know. I would do the same," she said with the same level of softness.

She blushed and sat down at the table ready to enjoy her breakfast, while Gabe walked over to the refrigerator.

He took out a carton of milk and set it down on the kitchen counter nearby.

Noticing this, Hanna took out the carefully wrapped breakfast burrito and stared at it.

**~*TWO MINUTES LATER*~**

Gabe held open the pantry trying to decide if he wanted to use the milk for pancakes or cereal, when he felt Hanna's arms wrap around his waist.

He smiled.

"Yes?"

He felt her lean against his back and sigh.

Worried, he quickly turned around.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's nothing."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked up at him.

"I just feel like... My whole life, I've always taken people for granted. Caleb, Travis, Jordan. Hell, even Lucas. And I don't want to do that to you."

Gabe put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Hanna...It's just a burrito. I don't mind."

"I know, it’s just that...ever since Aria's death I've been feeling like I owe it to her and to myself to not take anyone for granted. I mean, I know we joke all the time about each other's food, but...the least I can do is share some of it with you."

"Well, that's not entirely true. You did give me a sample of that soup you had before I told you about Spencer's 'A' messages? Remember?"

Hanna looked down, recalling that night.

"Yeah, that's true."

"Look, don't even worry about it. I can use this milk for cereal, or pancakes, or whatever else pops into my head. Okay?"

"Okay. But are you absolutely sure you don't want half?"

Her deep blue eyes seemed to hypnotize him before he finally gave in.

"Fine. I'll take half."

Hanna released her hold on him and walked over to the table where she had left it.

She took the now unwrapped burrito and tore it into two (somewhat) even pieces with her hands.

She held out one of the pieces for him to grab.

He took it and smiled.

"Thank you,” he said gratefully.

**~*NY CAFE---THREE HOURS LATER*~**

The sunlight beamed down on Alison, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer as they ate their food.

"Has Detective Sanderson bothered any of you guys?" Spencer asked them while munching on some chips.

"Not really. Guess she doesn't really think that we would murder our best friend," Hanna replied.

"And given our history with cops, that makes it all the more strange," Emily said quietly.

"So," Alison took a biscotti from the table and dipped it into a small bowl of chocolate. "What did Rollins mean exactly when you visited him?" She took a bite from it and looked at Hanna expectantly with raised eyebrows.

"I have no idea. But it sounded like he knew that the killer was closer to us than we had originally thought."

Alison scoffed at this and took a sip of coffee.

"That leaves just about everyone that we know," Spencer said calmly as she looked at the others.

"Who do you think killed Aria?" Emily asked Alison.

"Honestly? I think it was Ezra."

There was no reaction to that. Only silence.

"What, no objections? No 'but he loved Aria!' cries?" Alison asked them.

Emily reached over and grabbed a chip from the middle of the table and took a bite from it.

"Those days are long gone," She said mid-crunch.

"Yeah, ever since your 'ex-husband'," Spencer used air quotes, "tried to ruin your life."

Hanna nodded her head in agreement.

"And you know, Gabe is always telling me that most murders are committed by someone the victim knew personally."

They all sat quietly for a moment before Spencer spoke again.

" _If_...Ezra really did kill Aria...Why haven't the police caught him yet?"

"Where is he anyway?" Emily asked her.

"No one knows. After the funeral he just sort of disappeared."

"And the police actually let him leave?"

"I heard a rumor that he gave a DNA sample and that it didn't lead to anything suspicious," Alison told them.

"DNA samples have always been such a bust for me. I mean one lock of hair on the dead body is supposed to prove who the killer is? It’s ridiculous," Hanna said skeptically with a roll of her eyes.

"DNA has other uses besides that, Hanna," Spencer told her.

"Yeah, don't remind me. I still get flashbacks of that bin from high school."

Spencer shook her head and drank a little bit of coffee before speaking again.

"Look, the point is...This new 'A' could be anyone. It could be Ezra, it might not be. But we have to be careful from now on."

She knew that they were scared, but she was just as scared as they were.

"All of us," she finished with firm finality.

The others murmured their agreement.

Hanna was about to dig into a piece of her apple pie when a shadow appeared and blocked her sunlight.

"Hello, Hanna," a voice called out.

She turned around and looked up to find a short brunette looking down at her.

It was Mona.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I don't even know if such a breakfast burrito exists with egg, tomatoes, AND hash brown in it. Sounds like it would be something though. Although I do have a favorite breakfast burrito that’s frozen…505 Southwestern Mexiwraps. :P Sorry if it feels like the story is moving a little slow. A part of me wants to finish it, and the other part of me doesn't want to. And I've had so much fun writing a full length Gabe and Hanna story because it was like the version of them that we never got the chance to see in show!canon, so I'm going to be sad to see them go. And once the story itself is finished, I will post a bonus chapter highlighting the timeline of events that took place during the overall story.


	22. Chapter 22

**~*NY CAFE, 12:25 PM*~**

Hanna smiled up at Mona, who was grinning at her. Hanna leaped up from her seat and gave her a tight hug.

When she pulled away from her, she looked at her confused. She never even knew that Mona would be in New York that day.

"No offense, Mona but...Why are you here? You didn't even show up to Aria's funeral."

Mona scratched her head and crossed her arms tightly.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry about that. I had to do something at work, but I'm here now."

Hanna beamed at her and sat back down in her chair.

Spencer leaned over the table.

"Hey, Mona?"

Mona glanced over at her and gave her a quick, friendly smile before answering.

"Yeah, Spence?"

"What do you know?" She asked in an accusatory voice.

She scoffed at Spencer's tone and shook her head in disbelief.

"I don't know what you mean Spenc---"

"Oh come on, you're Mona. You were obviously eavesdropping on us before you got here...What are we missing?"

Mona sighed impatiently.

"Fine. You all think that Ezra is 'A' right? You think he killed Aria?"

"That's our current theory," Spencer replied.

"Can't say I blame you. However, we're gonna need a lot more in order to drag him down with us."

"We are not going back into Radley's basement," Emily told her, disgruntled.

"Did I say you needed to?" Mona shot back harshly. "No, we need something else to find out who this 'A' is."

Alison began to tap her fingers on the table absently when Spencer decided to speak up again.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but...What would you do? You're 'A' again and you've just committed a murder...How would you torture the remaining survivors?"

Mona laughed.

"Hmm, well I wouldn't be so quick to divulge the methods to my madness. Theoretically, I would chase all of you until you break. Because it's not the kill that's the fun part...It's the chase."

"A cat plays with a mouse for hours before it kills it. Once it does that...the fun is over," Spencer said with a deadpan expression. She grabbed a few chips from the bowl in front of her and took a few bites.

"Yes, thank you for repeating that throwback gem of yours, Spencer," Mona told her with sarcastic excitement.

Spencer gave her an annoyed glance.

"So..."

Mona grabbed a nearby chair and put it down next to their table.

"You guys think that Ezra's just gonna roll over and admit that he's 'A'? You already tried that once and it backfired...Remember?"

She shot a quick glance at Spencer as she sat down.

"What do we know about the night that Aria was killed?" Mona asked them.

"The last time we saw her, she had gone off to go find Ezra. The power had just gone out, and she was worried about him," Hanna answered. She looked to the others and then at Mona, who urged her to continue on with the story by nodding her head.

"And that was the last time we saw her alive. She sent a message to my phone after that."

"Do you still have it?" Mona asked her.

Hanna shook her head.

"No, the police took my phone. Basically, the message said that she and Ezra were going to celebrate their marriage early, and that we shouldn't wait up."

"That doesn't mean that she sent it though," Emily told her.

"True," Mona interrupted. "But that doesn't mean we can't do a little investigating ourselves."

Alison stopped her tapping.

"You want us to go back there? To where Aria was killed?" She asked her grimly.

  
"As a matter of fact, yes," Mona replied calmly. "What do you guys say? Tomorrow, around noon?"

**~*THE NEXT DAY -- PHILADELPHIA HOTEL, HALLWAY OUTSIDE OF ROOM 240, 12:15 PM*~**

"I don't think we should be on this floor, Mona," Hanna said anxiously. There was yellow police tape crisscrossed over the front of the door.

"Relax. We're not actually in the room, we're just in the hallway. There's nothing suspicious about us being in a hallway."

"Tell that to the police," Alison said, slightly aggravated.

Mona looked down one end of the hallway, and then down the other.

"Okay. Judging by the amount of rooms down this floor, I'd say that the chances of Aria being held against her will were slim to none; she most likely did send that text."

"Why do you say that?" Emily asked her curiously.

"You guys see this?"

Mona pressed her palms against the wall.

"This wall is not made of thick sound-proof stone. There's no way no one would have heard Aria's terrified screams that night."

She removed her hands from the wall.

"Now that we know that, that begs another question...Why didn't Aria scream for help? Yes, there was a party going on downstairs...But what about the people who were already staying on this floor?"

"They would have seen or heard something," Hanna said calmly.

"Yes, they would have."

Mona walked a few steps down the hallway and turned around.

"Imagine this scenario...She finds him up in their room, and he greets her. The power comes back on, and she sends you guys the text. They go inside and close the door. Then, as soon as her back is turned, he puts a drug into her wine glass. She drinks it, and after a while, she falls asleep. Then, he carries her to the window and pushes her off. It’s why no one heard her scream that night."

"That's an interesting theory Mona, but you're missing one thing," Hanna told her passively.

Mona raised her eyebrow and gave Hanna a quizzical look.

"My friend told me that when he discovered her, her eyes were open. He had to shut them himself."

"Oh! Well my theory is still possible."

"Look, all we know for sure is that she received a fatal head injury. But we don't know how to prove that Ezra did it," Spencer said pessimistically.

“Well, looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us, don’t we Spencer?” Mona said confidently.

**~*GABE AND HANNA'S NY APARTMENT, 8:45 PM*~**

Mona sat down at the dining table and looked at Hanna with sincere sympathy.

"I'm really sorry you're going through this, Han. Aria and I were never close, but...I always felt like we were...kindred spirits," she said with a small laugh.

Hanna looked at her questioningly and smirked.

"That's weird. Why 'kindred spirits'?"

Mona put her head down and smiled.

"Never mind. Forget I said it."

Just then, the door opened and Gabe walked in. He had a bag full of what looked like books inside. Upon noticing that Mona was there, he smiled.

"Oh! Hey, Mona."

"Hey."

"What brings you here?"

"Well, I'm dropping in on your girlfriend unannounced by crashing here for the night. Hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all."

He walked over to Hanna and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He then walked over to the bookshelf and began inserting several books into the remaining empty spaces.

"Big sale today huh?" Hanna asked him as she sat down in a chair next to Mona at the table.

"Yeah. The library was having a sale today."

Hanna leaned toward Mona playfully.

"Every month or so this library down town sells old books for ten cents each," She told her happily.

Mona looked at Gabe and Hanna, amused.

"Wow. I never thought I'd see the day when Hanna Marin would get excited over a book sale and not half-off at the local mall."

"Hey, that's not entirely true," Gabe said as he continued stacking. "I have seen her practically run people over trying to get to a shoe sale during the holiday season."

"Yeah," Hanna nodded, "Shopping is still a big thing for me Mona. Reading is just like...number three on my list of favorites. Isn't that, right Gabe?"

He put the last book in and turned around.

"Oh yeah. Of course. Books are at least...Number three for her. _At least_."

"At least," Hanna repeated before bursting into fits of laughter.

Gabe joined her, and eventually Mona did too.

But their laughter was soon interrupted by the sound of Hanna's phone going off.

Hanna breathed in and out before grabbing her phone from the table.

It was From Emily.

"Yeah, Emily?" Hanna said with a slight giggle. But her expression soon went from light and cheery, to serious and alert.

"Wait wait wait. Slow down. Uh-huh..."

Suddenly, her eyes widened in horror.

"What?! When?!"

Her eyes darted back and forth as she continued to listen to the call. After about thirty seconds, her expression went from horrified, to downright bleak.

"Okay, Em. I'll be there soon. Bye." She said quietly.

She hung up the phone and looked at Gabe, who immediately noticed that her eyes were beginning to turn red.

"Hanna...What happened?" He asked her with worry.

"That was Emily...Ali is..."

She sobbed a little before speaking again.

"Ali's dead," she said hoarsely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yeah, sorry, lol. But hey, not everyone is going to make it. Take notes PLL writers! (Although if Gabe came back and apologized to Hanna, I wouldn’t be complaining as much).


	23. Chapter 23

**~*FIVE DAYS LATER - ROSEWOOD CHURCH BATHROOM, 3:14 PM*~**

She was shot.

Alison Dilaurentis met her maker through the end of a bullet.

Once in the back of the head.

It was certainly not what Hanna imagined when she pictured Ali dying.

In her mind, Alison was an old woman in her late 90s, possibly early 100s, sitting on her deathbed delivering one more dramatic line before finally succumbing to old age and kicking the bucket.

"That's,” she coughs hoarsely, “immortality my darlings."

Or perhaps something gentler like, "please, just let me sleep."

But there was no last line for the famed Rosewood drama queen.

The last thing Hanna ever heard her say was "See ya," after they had gotten out of the hotel where Aria was murdered.

Two simple words that now had meaning.

Hanna rubbed her eyes together and looked into the scratched bathroom mirror.

" _I don't know how many more of these damn funerals I can take_ ," she thought sadly to herself as she watched her red-faced puffy-eyed reflection in the mirror.

**~*ONE WEEK LATER --- GABE AND HANNA'S NY APARTMENT, 2:01 AM*~**

She was running through a desolate neighborhood with dark alleys everywhere.

She found herself running as if on autopilot; a robot in heels.

There was no sense of exhaustion or thoughts of "I need to stop!"

She just kept running and running until...

A black hooded figure approached her.

She had finally stopped running, but now she couldn't move.

The hooded figure approached her slowly, and from beneath the hood, she could see a dark and sinister smile creep up from their mouth.

That was the only part of their face that she could see clearly; the rest was hidden by a dark shadow resting across their face.

Suddenly, Hanna found herself on top of a high skyscraper, overlooking the traffic trying to make its way through the city.

The mysterious figure approached her, and she still couldn't move.

They wrapped their hands around her neck...and before she could even think about her last thoughts, she was pushed over the edge of the building.

Falling.

Falling.

Until finally---

"AHHHHHH!!!"

Hanna woke up with a jolt and began breathing heavily.

Gabe immediately got up and turned on the bedside light.

"Hanna? What is it?"

She sighed in relief when she realized that her nighttime horror was just a nightmare.

"I was...I was running through this neighborhood alone. And then I saw someone in a black hoodie and...I was paralyzed. You know like dream paralyzed? I couldn't move. And then they threw me over a building."

Gabe caressed her face gently.

"It's okay. You're okay, now. I'm here."

Gabe wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her closer.

She let herself cry.

Through her tears, she began to talk once more.

"This 'A' seems pretty hell bent on killing all of us. I-I-I can't even leave this apartment anymore. I'm too scared."

"Shhh, it's okay. You're safe."

He stroked her hair gently as she grabbed onto his shirt and let the tears fall.

**~*9:30 AM*~**

She could barely sleep after that despite Gabe's protective cuddling all through the night.

Hanna stared at the cup of coffee in front of her that was sitting on the table.

She reached over and took a few sips, being careful not to drink too much because she didn't want her throat to burn.

"Do you want something to eat?" Gabe asked her from the kitchen.

Hanna looked over at him, confused.

"Huh?"

"Do you want something to eat?" He asked her softly.

She shook her head.

"I'm fine with this coffee."

Gabe sighed and made his way over to her.

He lowered himself into a chair that was next to hers, and took both of her hands in his.

"Hanna... What do you want me to do? What _can_ I do?"

She couldn't even look at him, nor could she respond to his question. She knew that he would do anything, literally _anything_ for her, and although it was one of the traits she loved most about him, it was also one that made her more afraid than anything else.

She turned her head to look into his eyes and saw concern, love, and fear all jumbled up into one.

She shrugged.

"There's nothing that can be done," she said hopelessly.

He laughed nervously.

"Han...Hanna, come on. You can't think like that. The police will catch whoever's doing this, I promise you."

Knock! Knock!

Gabe touched her face quickly before getting up to answer the door.

Upon opening the door, he found himself face to face with Spencer, who seemed even more exhausted than Hanna.

"Hi, Gabe," Spencer said quietly.

"Hey, Spence. Hanna's not feeling too well right now but---"

"I'm fine," Hanna interrupted from the table.

There was a brief awkward silence for about ten seconds until Spencer decided to cross the threshold and sit down next to Hanna.

"I'm sorry for barging in like this, but...I needed to show this to you. And I couldn't do it over the phone."

Hanna scoffed.

"What are you talking about Spence?"

Spencer reached into her purse for her phone. Once she had it out, she began flipping through the screen until she found what she was looking for.

"Look at this text ‘A’ sent me," she said as she handed her phone over to her.

**A SHOT IN THE DARK FOR ALISON 'DEAD-LAURENTIS'**

**BUT I WON'T MISS THE BITCH**

**MY CONDOLENCES THOUGH**

**…**

**…**

**YEAH NOT REALLY LOL**

**\- A**

Hanna was immediately stirred by something inside her upon seeing the message.

"I cannot believe…The nerve of that…that bitch, whoever they are,” Hanna said through clenched teeth.

"There's more," Spencer told her carefully.

She went to another message.

**LET'S PLAY A GAME**

**IF YOU AND YOUR REMAINING FRIENDS...**

**LOL**

**CAN FIGURE OUT WHO I AM BY THE END OF THE MONTH**

**I MAY JUST SPARE YOUR LIVES**

**\- A**

"What kind of joke are they playing on us?" Hanna asked.

"Shhh, there's another one."

**I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING, SPENCE**

**I KNOW BECAUSE BELIEVE IT OR NOT**

**I'M PRETTY INTELLIGENT MYSELF**

**BUT BELIEVE ME...YOU WILL WANT TO CATCH ME**

**GO VISIT HANNA AND TELL HER ABOUT THESE MESSAGES ASAP**

**HAPPY HUNTING!**

**\- A**

Spencer turned off her phone and placed it on the table.

"Spence, don't tell me you’re seriously considering listening to what ‘A’ has to say.”

Spencer shook her head.

"I'm not, but if this is our chance to catch him, or her!"

Hanna put her face into both of her hands and groaned.

"Hanna, we need to take this opportunity! You, me, Emily, and hell, even Mona! We need to work together to find this person and end all of this nonsense for good."

Hanna looked up from her hands, and Spencer could see how much the stress was eating away at her.

"Spence...this happens every time. We find 'A' and just when we think they're gone...They come back again."

"I know, Han, I know. It's just..."

She sighed and leaned back in her chair.

When she spoke again, it was gentler, like a whisper.

"Look, the reason why I think we need to do this is because of a message that they sent me just yesterday. The other messages were sent a couple of days before that, but this one...When you see it, I think you're going to change your mind."

She took out her phone again, and after a few swipes, found what she needed to show Hanna.

"Here. Take a look," she said softly.

When Hanna read what was on the screen, her jaw dropped.

**MONA, SHANA, CECE, ROLLINS...HA!**

**JUST PAWNS IN MY LONG GAME**

**BUT I AM THE ONE THAT YOU WANT**

**ALWAYS IN THE BACKGROUND**

**NEVER NOTICED**

**BUT IT'S TRUE**

**IT'S ALL TRUE**

**I AM BIG 'A'**

**.....**

**.....**

**FEELING MOTIVATED ENOUGH TO FIND ME YET?**

**\- A**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay, so 'A' is making it a little easy for them, but hey! This 'A' loves an audience. And I think they want to get caught. Or maybe they just want me to finish the story! Ha ha ha.


	24. Chapter 24

**~*TWO DAYS LATER --- PHILADELPHIA HOTEL LOBBY, 1:41 PM*~**

Emily paced around the floor of the hotel lobby with her head down while Spencer chatted with the manager.

"Em?" Hanna asked her softly.

Emily looked up to see Hanna looking at her with concern.

"Are you okay?"

Emily stopped, and shrugged.

"Yeah. I'm just waiting for Spencer to do whatever it is that she's doing."

"No, I mean," Hanna grabbed her shoulders gently and looked into her eyes. "Are you okay?"

Emily looked down sadly.

"If you're referring to Ali, no I'm not okay."

Hanna smiled sympathetically.

"I know you loved her."

"Yeah, I did."

She gestured with her head for Hanna to follow her, and they walked over to a few chairs and sat down.

"I mean...I know we both moved on with other people, but...It still hurts."

Hanna reached over to grab Emily's hand, and gave her a warm smile.

At that moment, Spencer walked over to them with a couple of travel brochures in her hand.

"Wow, that manager sure loves to talk. I only grabbed a couple of these, and he was already pushing me to try out their branch in Mexico," she said, slightly amused.

"Is that it?" Hanna asked her.

"Yeah," Spencer replied as she handed her the brochures.

One of the brochures highlighted "The Amazing Sights and Sounds of Rio!" while the other one was more modest with its "The Shores of Hawaii: A Beautiful Place For the Two of You."

Hanna handed them back to her, and Spencer opened up the Rio brochure and revealed what was inside. There was a three by five printout of a beautiful looking city, and when she turned it over, a name was written on the back.

"Gelsenkirchen," Spencer said clearly.

"Huh?" Hanna asked her.

Spencer tucked the printout back into the brochure.

"Gelsenkirchen. It’s written on the back of this print out. It's a city in Germany."

She gave the brochure to Emily while she opened up the other one.

Another print out just like the one before it, only this time, it said---

"Leipzig," Spencer said as she held the printout in front of her.

"That's German too isn't it?" Hanna asked her. Spencer nodded.

"So what does it all mean? Why did 'A' plant those into these brochures? I mean surely, someone would have picked them up besides us?" Emily asked them.

"I don't think so, Em. This is what 'A' told me to do," Spencer told her calmly.

She whipped out her phone and showed Emily the message.

**GO BACK TO THE HOTEL WHERE ARIA WAS MURDERED**

**SEE THAT BROCHURE STAND?**

**GRAB THE ONES THAT LOOK...**

**OUT OF PLACE.**

**DON'T WORRY...I HID THEM WELL ENOUGH.**

**\- A**

"The other brochures talked about this hotel and their other branches all along the east coast, but oddly enough, none of them mentioned a single thing about international travel." Spencer folded up the two brochures and put them into her bag.

"Well, what’s next, Spence?" Hanna asked her. Spencer tightened her hold on the strap of her purse and sighed.

"We wait until we're sent another clue."

"Is this how it's gonna be now? Waiting for 'A' to deliver clues to us while we run around like chickens with their heads cut off?!" Emily said viciously to the two of them.

Spencer swallowed nervously. She had to admit, the idea of the person responsible for all of their horrors suddenly coming clean was a bit...strange to say the least, but a part of her wanted to do this.

Hell, she _needed_ to do it.

"I already deleted the message, but 'A' told me that they would keep on sending me clues until I could figure out who they are. Once I know I'm supposed to...send them a text."

She held up her phone and shook it for dramatic effect.

"Well, surely we can figure this out based on what we know. I mean...two German cities?" Hanna asked them.

"They're not the most populous of the German cities though. Someplace like Berlin I could understand, but..." Spencer shook her head. "No. No, 'A' wanted us to know about these cities for a reason."

"Either way, we have our first clue," Hanna said casually. "Two cities that will lead us directly to 'Big A's' identity."

"If we can get that far," Emily reminded her cautiously.

**~*2:10 PM --- PHILADELPHIA LIBRARY*~**

"Thank you so much," Spencer told the librarian as she gathered up the information she needed --- which turned out to be a calling number.

Emily and Hanna smiled gratefully at the old man, and followed Spencer toward a row that housed books dedicated to science and the way it helped to achieve advances in modern medicine.

"Can I see that, Spence?" Hanna asked her. She was referring to the calling number the librarian had written down for her. Spencer nodded and handed her the card, and then Hanna handed it to Emily, who looked at it once, and handed it back to Spencer.

"Do you think that book will even be in here?" Hanna asked her as she looked at the books surrounding her.

Spencer nodded.

"Oh yeah. It will. It definitely will."

Hanna looked through the books until finally, she found it.

"Got it!" She exclaimed triumphantly.

Hanna reached through and pulled out _On the Origin of Species: A Facsimile of the First Edition_ by Charles Darwin. She handed the book to Spencer who promptly opened it up and began turning the pages.

"What did the message say, Spence?" Emily asked her quietly.

"That we need to turn to page four...There's something in there."

She turned to the page, and right at the bottom, near the number four, they found another clue.

Hanna leaned over Emily’s shoulder and read the words out loud.

"'Survival of the fittest. Because only the strong will triumph over the weak, nimble and nerdy'."

"'Weak, nimble, and nerdy'...Reminds me of how Ali used to treat the kids in high school," Spencer said quietly.

Emily paused before speaking, not sure if she should say what she was thinking.

"Paige."

Hanna raised her eyebrows.

"What about her?"

"Ali used to bully her during high school."

"Em, you don't seriously think Paige left California just to _kill_ Ali?" Hanna asked her.

"I don't, but...I don't think we can rule her out either."

"Yeah, but Em…Aria's dead too," Spencer reminded her. "As far as I know, Aria never bullied Paige."

Emily sighed in relief.

"You're right. But...What else could the message mean?" She asked the two of them with her arms folded tightly against her chest.

They shrugged in response.

**~*GABE AND HANNA'S NY APARTMENT--- 9:43 PM*~**

Spencer, Emily, Hanna and Mona were all sitting around Hanna's dining room table discussing the clues that 'A' had sent them so far.

"Okay, so we have Germany and a quote written down in a Darwin book, now what could that---"

Hanna was interrupted by Gabe opening the door, his eyebrows raised in friendly surprise at the sight before him.

"Hey, Hanna," he said cheerfully. "Hey guys."

The others nodded and replied back with "hellos" and "heys."

He closed the door behind him and walked toward the table.

"What are you guys working on?"

"Oh, just trying to figure out who the hell 'A' is so we can get on with our lives," Hanna replied with sarcastic joy in her voice. She held up a brochure for Rio and tossed it on the table.

"Wow. This 'A' sure has you all worked up don't they? Very well."

Gabe grabbed a vacant chair near him, turned it around, and sat on it as it faced the table.

"Any theories so far?"

"We were just getting to that," Hanna told him. "The clues we have so far are two German cities, Gel-SIN..." Hanna put her hand to her forehead. "Oh, god."

"Gelsenkirchen and Leipzig," Mona said confidently before Spencer could help her out.

"Yeah. Thank you, Mona," Hanna said quickly.

Mona smiled. Just then, Spencer's phone went off, so she grabbed it off the table to check on it. In the meantime, Hanna and Gabe continued their conversation.

"So those two cities, plus, another clue that was written down in a book by Charles Darwin."

" _On the Origin of Species_?" Gabe asked her. Hanna nodded.

"Yeah, first edition. On page four 'A' wrote down something about the strong taking over the 'nimble and nerdy' or something like that."

"So what do you guys think?" He asked the rest of them.

"Maybe this 'A' speaks German?" Emily suggested.

"So do a lot of other people, Em," Spencer told her patiently. "No, that's way too obvious. _The clues are in the words_."

"Did you pick that up from somewhere?" Hanna asked her skeptically.

"As a matter of fact, yes." Spencer held up her phone to show them the next message she had gotten from 'A.'

This time it was Mona who decided to read the words out loud.

**YOU ONLY NEED THREE CLUES**

**TO FIGURE OUT WHO I AM**

**BUT REMEMBER THIS SPENCER…**

**THE CLUES ARE IN THE WORDS**

**NOT THE WORDS THEMSELVES**

**\- A**

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Hanna asked her.

"It probably just means that we're looking at the clues all wrong," Spencer told them. She got up from her chair and began pacing back and forth, while the others watched her in silence.

Hanna went over the clues in her head while she did this.

_"What is so damn special about these cities in Germany? Why the hell would ‘A’ give out a clue like that?”_ Hanna thought to herself impatiently.

_“’The clues are in the words, not the words themselves.’ What the hell is that supposed to mean? I can barely spell the names of those cities, let alone pronounce them. Two cities that start with a ‘G’ and an ‘L’? I don’t see how that’s...Relevant.”_

Hanna gasped silently, and at that precise moment, she was struck by an unnerving realization.

She looked over at Gabe who looked deep in thought.

"Gabe!"

He looked up.

"Yeah?"

"What's that thing you're always saying? Something about the remaining answer always being the right one?"

Gabe thought for a moment, but then he remembered.

"Oh! Right. Uh...’when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'" He raised his eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

Just then, Spencer stopped dead in her tracks and turned around.

"Because the answer has been in front of us all along," she answered with fear in her eyes.

She walked toward them again and grabbed one of the brochures off the table.

"Leipzig!" She said angrily before throwing the brochure back on the table. "Gelsenkirchen! And then that whole thing about the strong overpowering the weak."

Mona gasped softly.

She immediately knew what was coming.

"Wait...What are you guys saying?" Emily asked them.

Hanna bit her lip, nervously. She was so horrified with her revelation that she could barely speak.

"If…If Spencer is thinking what I'm thinking and if Mona is thinking the same thing then...Maybe it is true."

If they were right about this, then this would truly be the beginning of the end.

For all of them.

Spencer sighed heavily before the next few words left her lips.

"Lucas. _Lucas is A_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Oh, shoot. I should have made the hotel a resort instead, whoops, lol. Oh well. And for future reference, that hotel in Philly is completely fictional. Why do you think it has no name? Ha ha ha. Also, On the Origin of Species: A Facsimile of the First Edition is a real book that exists, you can find it on Amazon’s website. And that quote about “whatever remains” is by Arthur Conan Doyle. I'm sure some of you were able to piece together my "clues" before the end of the chapter. I tried to be obvious, but not too obvious. You know? But like I said before, I just want to finish this story. I will admit though...I had fun writing this chapter. Lots of quick internet research for me! lol. Oh, and I want to give a big shout out to tremolux's theory on tumblr, which I can't post here, but I will tell you how to find it on the search engine of your choice. Just type in "tremolux Uber A What's In a Name? Marlene may have said tumblr" and you should find it. It's one of the reasons why I decided to give the girls some German clues. We're almost finished guys! Almost! And I'm not ready... *starts sobbing hysterically*


	25. Chapter 25

**~*GABE AND HANNA'S NY APARTMENT--- 9:48 PM*~**

"It was him all along. He is 'Big A,' 'Uber A' or whatever you want to call him. It's him!" Emily exclaimed with a horrified look on her face.

Hanna shook her head anxiously.

"You know what, maybe we're just looking at the clues all wrong and---"

"Like hell we are!" Emily said harshly.

"Emily, I know you want to catch 'A', but---"

"But n _othing_ , Hanna! If Lucas is 'A' then that means that _he_ is the one who was behind this entire thing all along!"

Hanna put her face into her hands and sighed deeply. When she took her hands away, she shook her head in disbelief.

"I just...I really thought that he would have gotten over Ali's bullying by now." She smiled sadly. "But I guess I should have known better after he told me that he destroyed Ali's memorial back in high school."

"She also used to call Lucas 'hermy' a lot before she went missing that year," Mona replied. She chuckled lightly. "There used to be a time when even I wanted Alison to die."

Gabe got up from his chair and put his hands into his jacket pockets.

"Look..." he paused. “Whatever Lucas has done in the past, he's your best shot at finally getting back to your lives. But what about Ezra?"

"What about him?" Hanna asked him.

"I thought he was still a suspect for you guys."

"Well, we can suspect both him and Lucas at the same time. It's not that difficult."

Spencer picked up her phone and grasped it tightly.

"I guess there's only one way to find out," she suggested ominously.

She began typing the text with Emily and Hanna looking over her shoulder as she typed.

**THE CLUES YOU GAVE**

**REALLY HELPED US**

**....LUCAS.**

Spencer hit the “send” button.

One minute.

Three minutes.

No response.

**~*THE NEXT DAY, NY CAFE --- 9:05 AM*~**

"Why did he never reply back?” Emily asked of the previous night’s events.

"Maybe that means Lucas isn't 'Uber A' after all?" Hanna suggested hopefully before taking a sip of her coffee.

"I'm not so sure about that, Han," Spencer said cautiously. "Don't forget...Lucas's apartment is the same place where Aria got those burns a year before."

Hanna looked down sadly as she remembered the event.

"That's right," she said, defeated. "Aria got those burns...and after Caleb and I discussed our stupid plan to catch 'A' I saw Lucas up on the first floor messing with the controls."

Hanna sighed and put her hands on her neck.

"God, I should have known it was him," she said, disappointed. She removed her hands from her neck, reached for the cup of coffee in front of her and drank some of it to calm her nerves.

"Well _if_ it is him, he doesn’t seem to be in an awful hurry to tell us," Spencer told her calmly before taking a sip of her own coffee.

"And that doesn't bother you?" Emily asked her curiously.

Spencer turned her head to look at her; her expression was grim.

"Of course it bothers me," she said in a slightly patronizing tone. Upon noticing the bewildered look on Emily’s face, she put down her cup of coffee and pushed it away from her.

"I'm sorry, Em. But it does bother me," she said apologetically. "And I hate waiting around like this. All for some damn reply," she finished angrily.

Afterwards, Spencer leaned forward and molded her hands into a prayer like pose against her nose.

She closed her eyes, and seeing Spencer like that brought Hanna back to when she first received new messages from 'A' and the immediate dread she had felt afterwards.

She reached across the table and grabbed one of Spencer's hands from her face, and held on to it.

Spencer opened her eyes, put the other hand down, and looked gratefully at her as Emily finished eating the last crumb of her coffeecake.

"I love you guys," Hanna said to the both of them.

And it was true. What they all went through, that was something that _no one_ , not Ezra, not Lucas, would ever be able to take away from them.

"We love you too," Emily added with a warmhearted smile.

**~*GABE AND HANNA'S NY APARTMENT--- 10:25 AM*~**

Mona had finally joined their little rebellion shortly after they returned from their breakfast at the cafe, but they had all grown tired of waiting around. To pass the time, they all resorted to doing whatever they could to keep their minds occupied.

Spencer sat at the dining table by herself and scrolled through **Facebook** on her phone looking at any bits of news that she could find.

Mona stood against the wall as she tried to find recipe ideas from **Pinterest** on her phone.

Emily and Hanna were both sitting on the couch lost in their own thoughts as they waited for Spencer to get a response.

" _I can't believe Lucas might be 'A'...How could this happen again? And what about Aria? WHAT ABOUT US?...Wait a minute...”_

Hanna sat up and nearly stepped on Emily's foot as she got up from her seat.

"Sorry, Em!"

"It's okay," Emily said seriously.

Hanna tensed slightly because she knew that Emily was still angry at Lucas, but she dismissed it and pressed on.

She rushed over to Spencer and leaned against the table.

"Spence?"

"What?" She replied in a slightly detached tone as she used her fingers to scroll into social media oblivion.

"Instead of waiting for Lucas to reply back, maybe we could set some sort of trap for him."

Spencer finally looked up from her phone.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well I..." she paused.

_"Damn. How the hell am I supposed to trap 'A'? Of all people!"_

Fortunately for Hanna, Mona had begun eavesdropping on them the moment she saw Hanna walk over to Spencer.

"That's easy," she said confidently. "Give Lucas what he wants."

"How the hell are we supposed to know that is?" Emily replied impatiently from the couch.

"We treat him like he's the most important person in the world," Hanna said carefully.

Mona nodded her head in agreement.

"Yeah..." She walked closer to the table and snapped her fingers. "Let me send him a message Spencer," she suggested patiently with her hand open.

Spencer looked up at Mona, then at Hanna and Emily who both seemed to have the same tense expressions on their faces.

She got up from her chair and handed Mona the phone.

Within seconds, Mona began typing away, and they could only watch as she typed and typed.

Losing all patience, Emily got up from the couch, walked over to where they were, and snatched the phone from Mona's hand.

"Hey!" Mona yelled angrily at her for the sudden interruption. She had already finished the message, but it was still rude.

**WHAT'S WITH THE WAIT?**

**ARE YOU LUCAS OR NOT?**

**WAIT A SECOND...**

**HOW COULD SOMEONE LIKE HIM BE 'A'?**

**SOMEONE SO SCRAWNY, WEAK, AND...INFERIOR?**

**I'M SPENCER DAMN HASTINGS FOR GOD'S SAKE**

**I SURE AS HELL AM NOT AN IDIOT**

**NOW QUIT SCREWING AROUND AND TELL US WHO 'A' REALLY IS**

"Is this how we're gonna trap 'A'?" Emily asked her skeptically. Mona rolled her eyes and yanked the phone from Emily's hands.

"Yes, it is Emily. As someone who's actually been 'A' at some point in their lives, what I liked the most about it was the feeling of empowerment. I wasn't 'loser Mona' anymore, I was someone that people feared. _And I liked that_."

Hanna swallowed at the memory. She would never forget the heartbreak she had felt the night she discovered that Mona was 'A'.

"Can I see the message?"

Mona handed the phone to her and she looked over the message. Spencer glanced over her shoulder and took to reading the message as well.

"And you think this will work?" Hanna asked Mona.

"Yeah. Lucas won't like Spencer, or anyone really, calling him inferior. It’s bound to bring up bad memories of when Ali used to bully him in high school."

"Well..." Hanna looked at each of them cautiously. "No time like the present, huh?"

She hit the "send" button.

The next minute ticked away slowly, but finally, after what felt like a hundred years to all of them, a reply showed up.

Hanna turned around to look at Spencer, who nodded her approval, and she opened the message.

**YOU FICKLE BITCH**

**NEVER SATISFIED**

**YES, I AM ‘A’**

**WANT PROOF?**

**[video chat link]**

“Click on it,” Emily told Hanna with determination.

And that’s exactly what she did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Uh-oh. I'm starting to get lazy. Please forgive me. But we’re almost done, I promise. Just one or two more chapters to go after this (not counting the timeline bonus chapter).


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: A somewhat…eventful chapter, lol. In terms of answers at least.

**~*GABE AND HANNA'S NY APARTMENT--- 10:31 AM*~**

Hanna held her breath for the next few seconds.

And that's when she saw him.

Lucas.

Only it didn't feel like Lucas at all.

It felt more like an imposter.

He smiled coldly when he saw Hanna's face, but something about it felt...Unnatural.

But then again, maybe this _was_ the real Lucas, and the other one had merely been a fake.

She didn't even know what to think anymore.

"Let me guess. You are all shocked at my being 'Uber A' right?" He asked them distastefully.

Spencer scoffed from next to Hanna.

"Is that what you're calling yourself?"

He grinned.

"Yes, Spencer. I find it very fitting given that my last name is actually of _German origins_. But to be honest, I didn't reveal myself to talk about my family history. I think we all need to meet up and...talk," he finished calmly.

"There's no way in hell we are---" Emily began angrily, but she was cut off by Mona.

"When and where?"

Lucas pondered the idea for a moment, and then he settled on a place.

"In front of Rosewood's church, tomorrow. Say around...Eight? Come alone."

He hung up.

**~*THE NEXT DAY --- 3:01 PM*~**

Hanna moved quickly through the apartment as she tried to remember what she needed to bring to Rosewood.

Coat? Check.

Cell phone? Check.

Keys? Check.

Recorder?

Hanna walked over to the bookshelf and grabbed the recorder from one of the books. She stuffed it into her coat pocket.

"Hanna..." Gabe said worriedly.

She sighed.

"I'll be okay. Lucas won't hurt me---"

"You don't know that. Look, I know that you two used to be friends but that doesn't mean he can't still hurt you."

Gabe cupped her face in his hands and looked at her gently.

"Look…” He cleared his throat nervously. “I know we haven't been together long, but…I can't let you do this without asking you something I've been wanting to ask you since---"

"No," Hanna interrupted as she touched his hands with her own. "No, _don't_ say it. I don't want you to say it out of some fear of never seeing me again. _Do you understand_?" She finished the last sentence firmly.

He nodded his head.

"I understand."

She removed his hands from her face.

"Good. I have to go. Mona's waiting for me."

She began to walk away, but then she stopped herself.

She turned around and went right back to him, kissing him as she did so.

When she finished, she pressed her forehead against his chin, and he kissed the top of her head in response.

She looked up at him and smiled.

"I love you," she said softly.

He smiled.

"I love you too."

She backed away from him and flipped half of her long hair over her shoulders.

“So…” She flipped the other half over. “How fast can you get to Rosewood?”

“Probably by eight. Why?”

"If you don't hear back from me by midnight---"

"Call the police? I know the drill, Han. Trust me.”

**~*ROSEWOOD CHURCH --- 8:14 PM*~**

"It's already, 8:14. I swear to god, if Lucas isn't here in five seconds, I'm gonna go. I already want to kill him for killing Aria and Ali, so it's a win-win for me," Emily said angrily as she stood in the cold with her arms crossed.

Spencer looked over at Hanna waiting for a reply, but she didn’t respond.

"Hanna!"

She looked up to find Lucas walking calmly over to them as if they were all meeting up to go and drink tequilas.

"Glad you guys could make it," he said shivering slightly. "Shall we?" He looked behind quickly as he gestured behind him.

"Where are we going Lucas?" Hanna asked him softly.

" _We_ , Hanna, are going to hear my story. I know a great place for it."

**~*ROSEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL HALLWAY --- 8:33 PM*~**

Against a complete lapse of judgement, they had let Lucas drive them in his car to the high school.

At least they were still alive.

For now anyway.

"Seems like an odd place to tell us your whole story," Hanna said skeptically as they walked through the eerily empty hallways with nothing but flashlights to guide their way.

"There are stranger places, Hanna. And since it's the weekend it's the perfect place for an audience," Lucas said calmly.

He finally reached the right door, and took out a bobby pin from his pocket.

"You can pick locks?" She asked him disbelievingly.

"No. But Mona can."

Mona pursed her lips together and walked over to the door. Within thirty seconds, she was able to get the door open.

Emily shined the flashlight onto the door and gasped.

"This used to be Ali's classroom!"

Lucas sighed impatiently and forced her into the room by grabbing her shoulders and pushing her inside.

The others obediently hurried inside, partly because they were afraid, and partly because they didn't want to be pushed in by him either.

He closed the door behind him.

"Are we all settled in? Good."

He turned on the classroom light and everything immediately brightened up.

Lucas walked in front of the chalkboard, and leaned against the teacher’s desk with his arms behind him.

"Are you guys still cold?" He asked them calmly.

Hanna took off her coat and hung it on the nearby coat rack. She didn't want to draw too much attention to herself by putting her hands into her coat pocket every now and then.

Fortunately for her, she had already put the recorder into her pants pocket during their little tour down the hall.

The others followed suit and decided to put their coats onto the rack as well.

"Why does your blue shirt hang so loosely from your waist Hanna?" Lucas asked her, confused.

Hanna tensed up. The fact that he continued to act so casual throughout this entire endeavor scared her to pieces.

" _He has no right to act like we're still friends_ ," she thought angrily.

"It's called ‘fashion’ Lucas," she tried to say as calmly as she could. She rolled her eyes and walked over to the back row of desks where Emily was currently standing.

Hanna stood there for a moment, observing him, trying to predict what he would do next.

But he didn't do anything; he just stared at them blankly.

After what seemed like a lifetime of waiting, he went around and sat down in the teacher's chair with his legs propped up against the desk.

"Why don't you guys sit down?" He suggested calmly.

"No," Emily said defiantly.

He sighed and took his legs off the desk.

"You know, I think you guys should really, _really_ sit down."

He pulled out a gun from his jacket pocket and decocked it.

"Or else, it's not going to be a pretty end for any of you," he said grimly as he pointed the pistol at them.

Upon seeing the gun, the girls all settled into the desks nervously as Lucas watched them, pleased with the power that a simple weapon had given him.

"Now that you're all settled in, I think you guys want to hear a story. A story that I think you are all _dying_ to hear..."

**~*SIX WEEKS AGO --- PHILADELPHIA HOTEL MEN'S BATHROOM, 6:45 PM*~**

Lucas was still wearing the janitor's mask, although it was a hell of a thing to be trapped under.

" _So this is how it feels to be Mrs. Doubtfire_ ," he thought to himself, amused.

He looked in the mirror and admired his reflection, when suddenly, he remembered something.

He quickly dashed under the stalls to ensure that no one was there, and he took out his cell phone from his pocket.

He dialed the number.

"Yeah?"

It was Ezra Fitz, former high school teacher turned ally.

"Are we still on for tonight?" Lucas asked him quickly.

"Yeah," he replied with more determination in his voice.

"And you're gonna lure Aria away from everyone once the power goes out?"

"Uh-huh-"

"And then you're gonna take her to your room?"

"Yep, that is the plan."

Lucas chuckled.

"Quite the wedding night you have planned."

"Well, our 'honeymoon' is after this so..."

"If 'honeymoon' was keyword for 'certain death,' then yeah," Lucas told him happily. He immediately jumped into fits of laughter.

He knew that Aria's death would crush all of them, but even more importantly...

It would crush Alison.

"Hang on," Ezra told him suddenly.

A few moments of silence passed before Ezra resumed talking again.

"Sorry about that. I thought someone was listening. I just had a run in with that former detective, Holbrook."

"Why?"

"Oh, I just wanted to thank him for 'Aria's protection'.” Lucas heard him chuckle. “God, you should have seen him. The way he praised Hanna...It was almost pathetic."

"I still can't believe she's with him..." Lucas said shaking his head.

"So, look...Where are you right now?"

"In the men's bathroom. First floor."

"I'll be there shortly."

Lucas heard the distinct noise of him hanging up.

He stared back at his reflection in the mirror a little while longer, counting away the tick-tick-tocking of the clock that was placed on the top of the mirror.

And then he heard the door open.

He turned around.

Ezra wasted no time and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out something that he knew Lucas was going to need in an hour.

A key card to Room 240.

Lucas grabbed it carefully and stuck it into his pants pocket.

"Now…Once the power is off, you’ll need an excuse to get away from everyone. Knowing Aria, she will get fed up with waiting for you and will come looking for you."

"Glad to know my 'research' has been a big help for you," Ezra told him, slightly impressed.

"Hey, it's a win-win for both of us, right? You finally get to kill Aria after all these years, and I get to hurt Alison...Before I take her life of course."

"And what about her friends?"

"Hmmm...I haven't decided yet. But they should suffer too."

Ezra chuckled, but frowned once he looked at the clock on the wall.

He looked down at his own wristwatch.

"Oh damn!"

Lucas was surprised by Ezra's sudden yell.

"What?"

"It's almost time. You said the power would turn off at exactly 7:37 PM, right?"

Lucas nodded.

"Then I need to get going."

**~*PHILADELPHIA HOTEL, ROOM 240, 7:41 PM*~**

Lucas inserted the key card in and the green light flashed. Before going in, he checked to make sure that the halls were empty, and once he saw that they were, he opened the door and went inside.

He knew exactly where he needed to go.

He carefully took off his mask and carried it with him to the closet.

**~*8:14 PM*~**

After being trapped with nothing but his own thoughts for about thirty minutes, Lucas sat up when he heard the sound of muffled laughter and the door opening and closing.

He stood up and peered through a tiny hole that was in the middle of the door.

He heard Aria giggling while Ezra laughed along with her. That was when they finally came into view, and he watched as Aria put her arms around Ezra's neck seductively.

"So I already sent everyone a message, which means we can have this entire room to ourselves tonight."

Ezra tightened his hold on her waist.

"I'm glad, but first..."

He released her, and Lucas saw Ezra hand her a wine glass.

A wine glass that _he_ himself knew was laced with a huge amount of crushed sleeping pills.

_"If that doesn't kill her, then the fall most certainly will."_

Aria took a long gulp from the cup, and smiled at Ezra.

Lucas had to keep himself from laughing, so he just settled on smiling evilly at the scene unfolding before him.

**~*8:29 PM*~**

The closet door opened, and a slightly annoyed Ezra looked down at him.

"Took you long enough," Lucas told him, disgusted, as he stood up.

"Yeah, well, Aria has a higher tolerance for alcohol then I thought," Ezra replied as he gestured over to Aria who was slumped over the bed, completely unconscious.

"Whatever," Lucas said impatiently. "Look, we still have our deal, right? You kill Aria, Alison suffers, and I make sure the cops never look your way."

"How are you gonna manage that?"

"I have my ways. Now if we really want to help with that...You're gonna need these," Lucas said as he turned towards one of the desk drawers in the room. He opened one, and inside were several pairs of black leather gloves.

"Damn," Ezra said as he eyed the many pairs of gloves inside. There were at least twelve pairs.

Lucas handed him a pair, and they both put on their gloves at the same time.

"Now," Lucas said once they were done. "How long is that sleeping pill supposed to work for?"

"I don't know. But I gave her enough to either cause a slow and peaceful death, or a very heavy sleep."

"Well..."

Lucas walked over to Aria, while Ezra followed after him.

"Let's find out, shall we?"

Lucas grabbed her legs while Ezra grabbed her from under her arms, and they carried her over to the open window.

Ezra positioned her so that her back was facing the windowsill. She keeled over in his arms, still knocked out from too much alcohol and sleeping pills.

He put his finger to her neck.

"Well, she's still got a pulse. It's a weak one, but it's still there."

Lucas bowed dramatically before him and backed away from the window.

"Well...You'd better kill her now before she wakes up."

Ezra smiled and looked at Aria.

He leaned in closer to her and began talking to her in a low voice, as if she could hear him. As if his words would suddenly spring her back from whatever dream world she happened to be in.

"You know...When I first met you, I knew you were easy prey. The way you lied about your age, and the way that you were so convinced that what we had was real even though I lied to you, _repeatedly_. If anything, your death will make a great ending to another book I have in mind. And this time, it's not about my former dead girlfriend. No, I know that she's dead. I've known ever since she went missing. And soon...you will be too."

Lucas could only watch as Ezra propped Aria up on top of the windowsill, the wind blowing through her hair as he positioned her for the fall.

In a sudden moment of morbid curiosity, Lucas decided that he wanted to watch as Aria met her end all the way to the bottom, so he stood near the window as well.

One...

Two...

Three...

Push!

Aria appeared to be falling in slow motion against the night sky.

As if by chance, her eyes flew open, and for a split-second, Lucas saw the look of fear begin to register on her face, but then she hit the ground.

She was dead.

"Oh, god," Lucas said disgusted. He had to turn away from the window.

"What? Captain of the 'A' team can't handle a little blood?" Ezra teased him.

"I can...Usually."

Lucas walked toward the closet and picked up his mask from the floor.

"Look, we need to get the hell out of here."

He began to put the mask over his head.

"You're right," Ezra said with his arms crossed. "And if I were you, I'd get rid of all those gloves."

He finally managed to get the mask back on.

"You just get back to that party before anyone suspects that you had something to do with this."

**~*ROSEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM --- 8:49 PM*~**

"So, Ezra killed Aria. To be honest, I only wanted to kill Alison, but I knew that hurting Aria would also hurt Alison. I had to let him do it."

Hanna felt sick.

But she also had to kick herself mentally for not noticing that Ezra had been a complete psycho all along.

Gabe was the only one who truly saw Ezra for what he really was. Of course, he never told Hanna that he thought Fitz was a murderer, but he did always sense that something was, well... _Off_ about him.

"So, now that we've got that little mystery out of the way, let's get back to basics. Questions I'm sure you are all _dying_ to know."

He put the gun down on the table and stood up from the chair.

"Let's see...Wren? One of Charlotte’s 'A' team members. Said he wanted to join because he thought your family was ‘ _dangerous’_ , Spencer. Can you believe it?"

He laughed maniacally while Spencer sunk lower in her seat, slightly embarrassed.

He continued.

"The N.A.T. Club. Now, that had nothing to do with me, but Officer Garrett and Ian did give me some ideas on how to spy on people. And I know for a fact that Charlotte passed this information along to Fitz when we were in high school."

"So they had nothing to do with the 'A' team? At all?" Emily asked him bravely.

"Naw. Were they all screwed up in the head? Oh yes. But they were never part of _any_ 'A' team. And you know what, while we're on the subject...Charlotte? I pushed her off that bell tower."

He laughed again.

"I also sent some threats to Melissa because I knew that she was guilty of a lot more than she'd let on. Like burying that girl for you, Spencer. Oh, that was fun."

Spencer glared at him.

He began walking down the aisles toward them, slowly.

"But then I thought to myself, 'what else could I do to torture all of you?' Rollins wanted revenge for Charlotte's death, but of course I couldn't tell him that _I_ killed her. So I convinced him that one of you did it."

He clapped his hands together and grinned excitedly.

"And now that we've finally got that stuff out of the way...I will now tell you why I became 'Uber A' and why you all deserve everything that you're going to get. Yes, _even you_ Mona."

Mona shifted uncomfortably in her seat as he stopped a couple of desks before her.

"When Alison bullied me in high school, it was like a living hell for me. Everywhere I went, kids would call me 'hermy,' along with everything cruel under the sun. All because of what that...What that _bitch_ called me. And once I found out that she was missing, I was overjoyed. And then once I found out that she was dead...Ha! It was like my birthday had come early. And after I discovered that Mona had been tormenting you, I was quite impressed. I took that to heart when she got sent to Radley."

He winked at Mona who sunk lower into her seat.

"And as some of you know, I left Rosewood for a short while to become home schooled. And that was the start of my being on the 'A' team. I helped Charlotte with some things, and in return, we exchanged intel. We both helped each other out, but I never told her that I actually _hated_ her sister and was glad to see her dead. I knew she would have kicked me out if I had. So I decided that hating all of you, a least around her, was easier. But then I discovered that Alison was actually alive, and I was enraged. I was even angrier that you all seemed to welcome her with open arms. Believing her stupid story about being _kidnapped_. Give me a break."

He rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"But the more pathetic thing was how eager you all were to accept my help at that Ice Ball. So naturally, I decided to take advantage; while Charlotte lured Alison away from the others, I stayed behind so I could observe everything at the dance."

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other excitedly before continuing.

"Anyway, after graduation, Charlotte and I continued to keep in touch every now and then. And I actually _did_ spend a little bit of time designing game apps and things like that. God knows it made me a ton of money the past few years. But I wanted _more_. And I knew the only way to start the 'A' team up again was to recruit members the way Charlotte had done back when we were in high school. And I could only do that by killing her and blaming it on someone else.”

Lucas laughed proudly at himself.

“ _Oh boy!_ You should have seen my face when I realized that I had the _perfect_ opportunity during her hearing. I knew you would all be in town, and I _knew_ that I had the power to make Rollins your number one enemy. I drove around that night in my silver jaguar, and I saw Charlotte go inside the church. I waited until Aria and Fitz left, and then I pushed her off the tower --- knowing full well that her death would break Alison's heart. After that, I became the new leader of the 'A' team. With the money that I already had, it wasn’t _that_ difficult. And Rollins was all too eager to avenge the death of his beloved _Charlotte_. But of course, I couldn't exactly let Alison, let alone all of you, think that you were actually safe. So after Rollins was arrested, I kept quiet. That is, until last month when I sent you a message, Hanna."

Hanna jumped at the sound of her name.

Lucas shook his head.

"Actually no, that wasn’t my first message. I'm the one who sent you the messages about Holbrook from the night you were kidnapped, and I also gave you that midnight curfew at that fashion fundraiser. I never knew how good it felt to send people 'A' messages, but it did. _It sure as hell did_. I wasn't nerdy Lucas anymore, I was 'Uber A'; the person that everyone feared. I was the reason why people looked over their shoulders when they went for a walk at night. And when Ezra Fitz, former 'A' team member, informed me that he knew of another way to crush Alison, well...I was intrigued. But you all know that story."

He made his way back over to the teacher's desk and leaned in front of it once again.

"Oh, and just to clarify. I rigged the controls in my apartment for your bachelorette party, Hanna. I didn't know which one of you would get burned, but I knew it was bound to be one of you. I didn't really care which one it was. Oh, and did I forget to mention? My place has hidden cameras planted _everywhere_."

"I'm also the one who shot Alison. God…That was the most satisfying thing I'd done in a _long_ time."

He shrugged unapologetically.

"But you know what? The only people that should be blamed here are the ones I see before me. Alison bullied me all throughout high school, and you guys did _nothing_. You befriended a total bitch, and you just let it happen. So if anything, I am the way I am because _you_ made me this way."

They were all shocked; especially Spencer.

"You expect us to be _sympathetic_?" She asked him furiously.

"Yes.”

His nonchalant tone implied that he didn’t regret a single one of his actions.

“You let it happen, so _yes_ , I am blaming all of you.”

"No." Hanna said fiercely.

Lucas raised an eyebrow at her curiously.

She had been silent for far too long, so she was surprised to find that she was positively fuming.

"You _had_ a choice, Lucas. You could have made the choice to move past Ali's bullying but no." She sighed and shook her head; the anger had finally sunk in. "You just had to throw it all away and turn our lives _into a living hell_!"

For a moment, she thought she saw a look of remorse on his face, but it quickly vanished. She rose up from her desk and began walking toward him.

"This is all on _you_. We did nothing wrong. And even if we did, well damn...It's not like you ever bothered to take our feelings into account."

Hanna walked closer to Lucas, growing braver with every step.

"You did this. You sat back as countless others tortured us...All because of the way Ali treated you in high school."

Lucas scowled at her, looking her up and down as he did so. But then he smiled.

Hanna leaned back.

"You think this is my fault, Hanna? And here I thought you were my friend."

"We're not friends," Hanna said as she looked down. "Not anymore," she finished quietly.

Lucas laughed and turned away from her.

"Now that’s funny.”

He turned back around.

“I always thought that you were the most loyal of the group, Hanna."

"I am loyal, but even I have my limits, Lucas," she informed him angrily. He chuckled and walked back around to the teacher's desk.

He spun the gun around before picking it up.

Hanna immediately retreated back to the desks where everyone was sitting.

"Now, I know I said I would spare your lives, but, _surprise surprise_. I lied."

He moved the gun around, and as it passed over their frightened faces, he smiled. _This_ was the power that he wanted. _This_ is what he wanted people to think of him.

Hanna raised her hands slowly.

"Lucas...Please think about this. You can still make the right choice. Put the gun down."

Lucas laughed as if she had told the world's funniest joke.

"I know you can't see it, but...despite what I just said, I can't just stop caring about you at the drop of a hat, Lucas. If you let me, I can make sure that you get the treatment that you so desperately need."

His laughter finally died down, and he looked at her suspiciously.

"What? You gonna send me to Radley? That placed closed a long time ago, Hanna."

"I know, but there are other places you could go to."

She moved forward a couple of steps, her hands still up in the air.

"Lucas...Please. _Please_ don't do this. I promise things will be different. I'll visit you at whatever institution you get into. And then maybe, just maybe, we'll finally be able to get back to our lives and move on from…all of this."

Lucas eyed her carefully.

"You're serious aren't you? Well, I'm sorry Hanna, but we can't always get what we want. You see, while you were busy mourning the deaths of both Aria and Alison, I was secretly planting evidence against your oh so lovable detective boyfriend. And with Ezra in the clear and secretly off in The Bahamas, your boyfriend will be going away for a _very_ long time. So no, I'm not going to kill _you_...But keeping you away from your love seems like the next best thing."

Hanna swallowed nervously, and she felt her whole body tense up. She closed her eyes trying to decide how else to convince him to turn himself in. She didn't even notice that Lucas had raised the gun again until Spencer shouted, "Hanna!"

Hanna opened her eyes to find that he had the gun raised, only it wasn't aimed at any of them.

It was aimed at his head.

"And now, you will all have nothing. I burned all of the evidence pointing at Ezra, and more importantly, _me_ , so even if you manage to make it back home in one piece, your _boyfriend_ ," he removed the gun from his head so he could use it to point at Hanna, who looked horrified, "will _still_ go to prison, and you will all be left with nothing but empty words and unsolved mysteries. Because who’s going to believe a bunch of liars when their only chance at the truth has been killed off?"

He put the gun back to his head.

"Lucas wait!" Hanna yelled with her hand outstretched toward him.

Click!

Click!

BAM!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Oh god. So yeah, I obviously didn't answer every single question on PLL ever, but I did try and incorporate some elements into the story. And you know what? If the writers weren't so arrogant with all of their red herrings and dropped story lines, then maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't be so incredibly confusing to do.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: A bittersweet chapter for me because this is probably the last time a story like this, where Gabe and Hanna are a couple, will be written on here. Or maybe not. Who knows?

**~*SECONDS LATER...*~**

The rest of the girls all screamed in terror as they watched Lucas fall down to the floor, dead.

Hanna had to put her hand on the desk to steady herself, and within seconds, the tears, which were brought on thanks to a variety of reasons, began to flow through her.

"Hanna?" Spencer called from her desk.

Hanna turned around and raised her eyebrows in response.

"What, Spence?" She asked through her tears.

"Please tell me you have it.”

Her expression was tense.

Hanna sniffled and reached into her pocket.

She held up the tiny recorder in her hand.

"It _was_ on the whole time? Right?” Mona asked her nervously.

Hanna checked it.

"Yeah," she rubbed her nose. "Yeah it was."

**~*TWO HOURS LATER*~**

The police moved about the school collecting evidence, while the girls were in another vacant classroom until further notice.

"Hanna, do you wanna---"

"No," Hanna cut Gabe off sharply.

She hadn't said much since he arrived half an hour ago. Instead, she just resorted to standing with her arms crossed, a crestfallen expression hanging over her face.

Everyone else was scattered here and there.

But no matter where they were, Gabe could see the same expression on all of their faces...

Terror and relief.

**~*SIX DAYS LATER -- LUCAS'S FUNERAL AT ROSEWOOD CHURCH, 3:01 PM*~**

The others could not bring themselves to attend Lucas's funeral, but they all wished Hanna the best.

She was grateful for that kindness, and she wasn't the least bit surprised that they had refused to come.

She didn't want to force them to attend the funeral of the person who murdered two of their friends. Well, technically, Ezra was a wanted man for Aria's death, but Lucas was just as guilty given that he sat by and let it happen.

She wasn't even sure why she was sitting in that cold, creaky church in the first place. Mona, she understood, somewhat, since they used to work together back in high school, but Hanna’s case was slightly different.

She tried to convince herself that it was out of some weird obligation since Lucas used to be her friend, but she knew that the _real_ answer was a lot more morbid than that.

She wanted to make sure that he was _dead_.

It sounded strange, but despite the fact that he literally shot himself in front of her, and despite the fact that she saw the pool of blood engulf his face while he lay on the floor, she just knew that she had to be sure.

And when she looked over at his body in that open casket, she knew she had her answer.

**~*ROSEWOOD CEMETERY --- THIRTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER*~**

His body was lowered into the ground, and that was that.

The final end of the 'A' game.

Mona hugged Hanna good bye and walked away with her mother.

Afterwards, Hanna put her arm around Gabe's and they began to make their exit when she spotted a few familiar looking people in the distance.

Spencer was sitting near a grave, while Emily and Caleb stood next to it, their faces grim with sadness.

Hanna promptly yanked Gabe's arm and led them over to where the others were, a mere walk that only lasted a minute.

"Guys," Hanna said quietly as she approached them.

Emily looked up and smiled wearily at her.

"Hey. We're just paying our respects to Aria."

She gently placed some flowers at Aria's grave and sat down next to Spencer.

Hanna walked closer to the grave and looked at the writing etched on to it.

**ARIA MARIE MONTGOMERY**

**JULY 22 nd 1994 - DECEMBER 15th 2018**

**Daughter. Friend. Sister.**

**_Loved by many. Always have been. Always will be._ **

Hanna felt the lump rise in her throat, but she swallowed it down.

"Did you guys see Ali's grave yet?"

"Yeah. It's back over there," Caleb answered her as he pointed behind him a few feet away.

Hanna thanked him and went over to it.

The grave had fresh flowers placed near it, which told Hanna that her grave was the one that they had visited first.

She leaned in front of the headstone and glanced over the words.

**ALISON DILAURENTIS**

**JUNE 6 th 1994 - JANUARY 10th 2019**

**Beloved daughter. Friend. Sister.**

**_That's immortality my darlings._ **

Hanna chuckled.

Even in death, Alison Dilaurentis managed to get her famous last words after all.

She heard a sniffle, and turned around to find both Emily and Spencer holding on to each other while they cried in front of Aria's grave.

The weight of her reality came tumbling back, and soon, she was sobbing all over again.

**~*EIGHT MONTHS LATER --- GABE AND HANNA'S NY APARTMENT, 8:15 PM*~**

Hanna sat silently on the couch thinking about the last few months since Lucas's 'A' reveal, and the deaths of her two friends.

It was hard at first.

Trying to get through those first few days after...well, _everything_.

Hanna decided to visit a therapist, which helped somewhat, but she always found herself chatting on the phone with either Spencer, Caleb, Emily, or Mona.

They understood what she was going through.

Of course, that isn't to say that she and Gabe never had their talks either.

It took a couple of months, but eventually, she managed to pour her heart out to him without wanting to cry---much.

There was one point in time about three months prior where she cried so hard that Gabe just held her in his arms for an extended amount of time, stroking her head gently as he did so.

When she pulled herself away, she looked at him and saw nothing but love and concern in his eyes; a look that she loved more than anything.

But as much as she adored it, that look would sometimes remind her of the painful five year period when she thought she would never see him again.

A time when she actually believed that he hated her and would never speak to her again.

A time when she hated him for never coming back to apologize; for getting angry at _her_ when _he_ was the one who started hanging around Alison during their senior year in the first place.

It was an aching wound that opened up all over again the night she came back to her apartment and found Caleb's phone left behind on the table.

Even reliable Caleb, the one person she thought she could count on to never leave her, had left her.

Fortunately, she now knew something that her past self would never have dreamed possible.

Gabe was not going to leave her.

Not now.

Not ever.

And she was glad.

**~*TWO DAYS LATER --- CENTRAL PARK, 4:17 PM*~**

They walked hand in hand through the park as they took in the sights and sounds of people jogging, kids playing, and bicyclists riding past them.

Hanna bit her lip nervously.

Gabe noticed this and stopped.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

" _Oh, just trying to propose to you via note. No big deal_ ," she thought to herself.

She looked around nervously, and spotted a bench not too far from where they were standing.

"Um...Let's sit on that bench over there."

They sat down, and he waited patiently for her to speak again.

She took a deep breath and spoke.

"I have something for you," she told him happily.

"Oh really?" He asked her teasingly.

"Uh-huh."

She opened her purse and pulled out a book.

Gabe looked at the title and laughed.

"Hanna, I hate to break it to you, but we already have _The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_ crammed somewhere in that bookshelf."

"Oh, I know. It's the same book. I just thought that you should take a look at that ending one more time."

Gabe looked at her skeptically -- although he looked more amused than anything else -- and he flipped to the back of the book.

He found a folded up note inside.

"What is this? Some kind of plea to get me to spoil the ending of that other book I'm reading?"

"Just read it."

Gabe smiled as he opened up the note, and when he saw what was written on it, his jaw dropped.

**Will you marry me?**

**love,**

**Hanna.**

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

He then burst into laughter, which only seemed to get louder as he put his hand to his forehead.

"Ha ha ha...Oh god.” He struggled to catch his breath. “This is just...Wow."

"What's so funny?" She asked him, slightly alarmed by his reaction.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny navy blue box.

Hanna didn't even need to ask him what it was, because she already knew.

"I'm laughing because," he opened up the box to reveal a beautiful silver ring. “Because I can't believe that you beat me to a proposal before I could do it."

It was at this precise moment that she began to cry tears of joy.

He then grabbed her hand and gently put the engagement ring on her ring finger.

"So..." Gabe started calmly. "Does this mean we're getting married or---"

Hanna cut him off by grabbing his face and kissing him.

They already had their answer.

**~*TWO DAYS LATER --- GABE AND HANNA'S NY APARTMENT, 2:05 PM*~**

_“How do you tell your friend that you're getting married? And even more importantly, how do you tell them for the second time?”_

That was all Hanna could think about while Spencer sat at her dining table with her eyes glued to her phone. She told Hanna she was trying to get updates on candidates for the next U.S. election in 2020.

She walked over to her and stood near her chair.

"So, Spence...Are you interested in being one of my bridesmaids? I've got something planned that I think you're really going to enjoy,” she told her casually.

Spencer waved her hand distractedly.

"Yeah, Hanna, that's fine, but I really want to find this---"

She paused.

She looked up at Hanna who was grinning.

"Oh my god." Spencer’s eyes lit up when the realization hit her. "OH MY GOD!" She put her phone down on the table and got up so she could level herself with Hanna.

And then…

“AHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

She squealed and hugged her tightly while they both screamed.

When they let go of each other, Spencer caught her breath and smiled at Hanna.

"Oh god, I am _never_ screaming like that again," she said lightly with a laugh.

**~*TWO MONTHS LATER --- GABE AND HANNA'S NY APARTMENT, 8:45 PM*~**

As far as bachelorette parties go, this one wasn't so bad.

Or maybe Hanna’s good mood was due to her actually marrying somebody that she wanted to marry.

"Okay, first game!" Spencer yelled out to everyone enthusiastically.

"Oh god, here we go," Hanna commented dryly before taking a sip of wine from her cup.

Everyone settled into their seats and waited on Spencer to read the game cards.

"Okay okay okay. How did the bride and groom meet?"

"At a funeral," Emily replied quickly.

Everyone laughed politely.

"No, she's serious," Spencer told them. "We had just gotten out of the funeral of this really terrible cop who harassed us ---Wilden," she rolled her eyes. "And there he was. He called out all of our names."

"While we were still at the top of the steps," Hanna chimed in happily.

"Top of the steps? Sounds like fate to me," Mona told her with a grin as she took a sip of champagne.

Hanna chuckled lightly, to which Mona sighed and put her cup down on the table in front of her.

"Oh come on, Han. You _know_ it is. And in the future you'll be able to tell your kids that the first time you saw their dad was at the top of the church steps after a funeral. I'm sure they'll _love_ that."

**~*TWO MONTHS LATER --- MANHATTAN HOTEL PARTY ROOM*~**

The day had been full of tears, laughter, and joy -- probably one of the best in his life so far.

And now here he was.

At his own wedding reception.

Gabe casually leaned against the food table while Hanna sipped her champagne.

"So does this mean I get to call you 'H. H.' now? I may not feel like saying your whole name after a while."

She put her cup down on the table and pushed him playfully.

"H.H. it is," he finished in a mock-serious tone.

Hanna giggled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

She pulled away from the kiss, and tightened her arms around him.

"And since you love me _so much_ , I was hoping you could tell me the ending to that book you're currently reading," she suggested happily.

"Of course." He leaned in closer to her ear and whispered in a hushed tone, " _Read. The. Book._ "

Hanna tilted her head and looked up at him adoringly.

"You're _still_ not into giving spoilers are you?"

"No, I'm not."

He smiled lovingly at her and was about to kiss her again when he spotted his dad and his brother staring at them from a table in the corner.

They looked like giddy school children.

David even pointed at them with a huge grin on his face as if to say, _“Look at this! Look at this!”_

Gabe winked knowingly at them, and leaned over to kiss Hanna.

**~*THREE MONTHS LATER --- NYC STREETS, 4:18 PM*~**

"I like this one. What do you think?"

She showed him the picture of a house on her phone. It was a beautiful place in a quiet-looking neighborhood.

"That's within the budget, right?"

"Of course! Unless you think it's too much?"

"Well, have you called the realtor yet?"

"I did, but he was busy. He said he could squeeze us in for this weekend though."

" _This_ weekend? That might be a bad time for me."

"Why?"

"Well you see, I've got a case over in Manhattan, and well...I might be a little busy."

"What a coincidence! I've got a fashion conference to go to in Manhattan too!"

Gabe turned and smiled at her. She laughed and he put his arm around her shoulder as they started walking down the crowded streets of New York City.

Suddenly, her phone began to buzz, so she stopped in the doorway of a closed business and took it out.

It was Caleb.

She smiled.

"Hey! How are things with you two?"

Caleb was on the other end of the line in an office while people were running back and forth between filing cabinets and computers.

"It's _Hell_ over here. Spencer is in charge of this political mess and I'm helping her. She's...," he spotted her coming in from down the hall.

"Oh there she is...SPENCER!"

Spencer stopped and gave him a look that read, _"What?! I'm busy."_

He put the phone down and mouthed, _"It's Hanna,"_ to her.

Spencer's face lit up and she quickly walked over to the phone.

"Hanna?! Oh, it's so good to hear your voice."

"How are things in D.C.?"

" _Crazy_. Look, I don't want to cut this call short but I'm actually really busy right now. I promise I'll talk to you later. Okay? Love you!"

Spencer shoved the phone back into Caleb's hands and ran back down the hall.

"Yeah, she's a little busy right now."

"That's okay."

"Well, look. I called because I was wondering if you and your _husband_ wanted to join us for a little 4th of July celebration."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The others are coming too."

Hanna looked over at Gabe, who was busy checking his phone, and she smiled.

The memories of the 'A' game would always be with her, and so would the deaths of Aria and Alison. But she also had memories, both good and bad, of the time that she had spent with her friends. She even had memories of Lucas, who committed the ultimate betrayal by becoming 'Uber A' ---despite her friendship with him. Of course, she _still_ couldn't bring herself to forgive him. Not yet, anyway. Time would surely tell if that would ever come to pass, but in the meantime...

She looked away.

"I think we can manage that," she replied happily.

"Okay, great! Look, I've gotta go. Bye!"

Caleb hung up, and as he did, Hanna felt a real sense of joy and gratefulness that their nightmare was finally over.

The 'A' game was over.

_"Huh,”_ she thought to herself with a little smile as she graced the phone with her cheek.

_"Spencer was wrong. A little hope isn't so bad after all."_

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: It's December 14th, 2016. Today, I made PLL history (lol sorry, I need to be dramatic) by being the first person to complete a full length Gabe Holbrook and Hanna Marin fanfic. Oh god, I am so glad that I am finally done! Especially after eight long months! Writing this story was fun and painful at the same time because I still can't believe that the writers would let go of a ship with this much potential. *sighs sadly* But I just want to thank every single person who decided to give this story, and more importantly, this ship, a chance. Timeline chapter coming up after this!


	28. BONUS TIMELINE CHAPTER

**A/N: Here it is! The timeline bonus chapter. It’s short, sweet, and to the point, but I think it should help a lot in case certain events confused you.**

**Timeline for the first half of the story....**

**Note: *I guessed the starting date, because 6B started in September (as shown by Aria's security tape footage), and it didn't really feel like a very long time either, so.***

_October 4 th_ \- The night of Hanna's kidnapping

CUT TO

_Two weeks later_

_October 18 th, 2017 _– _December 1 st, 2017_

So the majority of everything that happened in the first half of the story takes place in between that period.

After that, we cut to a year later, which is…

_December 1 st, 2018_

**Timeline for the second half of the story....**

This one is more detailed in terms of dates because I actually kept track of individual days and weeks.

 _December 3 rd, 2018_ – Hanna tells Gabe about the ‘A’ message

 _December 15 th_ – Aria’s wedding

 _December 22 nd_ – Aria’s Funeral

***Note: It is now 2019***

_January 5 th_ – Hanna pays a visit to Rollins in prison

 _January 8 th_ – Emily and Hanna at the bar

 _January 9 th_ – Mona’s arrival

 _January 10 th_ – Ali’s murder

 _January 15 th_ – Ali's funeral

 _January 22 nd_ – Hanna’s nightmare

 _January 24 th_ – ‘A’ scavenger hunt

 _January 25 th_ – Lucas reveals himself

 _January 26 th_ – Lucas’s story

 _February 1 st_ – Lucas’s Funeral/Visiting Aria and Ali’s graves

***Eight Months Later***

_October 1 st_ – Hanna looks back

 _October 3 rd_ – Hanna and Gabe’s wedding proposals

 _October 5 th_ – Hanna tells Spencer about her engagement

***Two Months Later***

_December 7 th_ – Hanna’s _second_ bachelorette party

***Note: It is now 2020***

_February 22 nd_ – Gabe and Hanna’s wedding day

 _May 18 th_ – House Hunting/Caleb’s July 4th invitation

**A/N: So as you can see, their wedding was just a few days before February 25 th, which was the day that 4x21 -- the episode where they had their first (and unfortunately only) canon!kiss – aired for the first time.**

**:`)**

**Good bye everyone!**

**And thank you again.**

**Author's Note:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: So that's the first chapter! I already have a bunch of excerpts written out for future chapters, I just need to organize them and all that good stuff. I don't know if this story will ever be finished, but I will try my best. :D ADDITIONAL NOTE: The formatting here is a little different compared to FF, but I will get the hang of it eventually.


End file.
